1

homecoming fireworks
I lie and say
I can’t go

2

across the room
someone who
almost looks like you

3

drama club dances
beneath the Old Grand stone bridge
just like I did

4

tracing my fingers
along familiar stucco brick
they’ve repainted my mural

5

moseying about the campus
yet everything stays
changing

6

I run back home
not even a murmur
of “i told you so”

7

no friday light nights 
for an art school 
in the city  

8

momma's cooking 
never felt 
more alone

9

Sunday night football 
fire stoked 
family time

10

never-ending
country roads 
can’t wait to see you

11

freshly shaven legs 
dress down to my ankles  
razor bumps

12

guest bedroom 
in a house 
that used to be mine

13

paddles on the wall
so many names 
I get one of my own 

14

sleepless nights
become better
at home

15

highly anticipated week,
after:
the homecoming blues

16

deadly stares
a ruined suit jacket
at the homecoming dance

17

song blaring
what
did you say

18

flowers made of plastic 
remind me of him
they last longer

19

joyful sprint
out the door
paw prints line the mud

20

always clean
comfort
sister down the hall

21

distant memories
dancing the night away
they'll come again

22

racism paints
my high school
gym floor

23

warm tea
near a fireplace 
home is with her

24

smushing paper into chicken wire
yearly competition
flies off into the wind

25

untouched bedspread
just how I left it
a time capsule from august

26

hug from mom
my worries
dissipate

27

the entirety of homecoming court
my friend group
I watch from afar

28

sneaking through the back
my grandma hugs me
before my mom

29

so many memories
I watch us play cards on my bed
and hear our ghosts laughing

30

homecoming 
one meaning
home and welcome back.

31

hours of cornfields
finally out the window
a range of snow caps

32

return to the mountains
to find myself
lost in the woods

33

pretty dresses
flashing lights
homecoming fame

34

in her mother’s arms
protecting her
from the world

35

two homes
or is one just
a house

36

two places
two versions of me
there’s no place like home