and before I knew it

And before I knew it I was old and ugly and flying to Hawaii between two Virginia sweethearts with a belly full of fruit snacks. She was old too, a grandma with weak wrists that couldn’t quite open the bag of chips. He was her son, heavy set and an arduous reader. He kept the light on all flight; she fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn’t mind though, nor that this didn’t work, nor that that ripped up and exploded out into a million tiny pieces. I just sat back and wrote this little poem, some others too; most of which you’ll probably never see, nor I again. Most will remain lost and forgotten in the eternal abyss that is iCloud Notes. But for a brief moment this poem was, and in many ways still is, the most special moment of my life.

And then, before I knew it, I landed in Hawaii.

Francis
Pacific Ocean, October 2022