i tell you i want to go to india
you tell me we need a visa to go there
you are in the bathroom cutting your toenails
i think to myself i want to go to india alone
i can arrange the visas i say
we will require stamps and money you say
okay i say
okay what you say
i can arrange them i say
we get dressed in you sister’s room
we walk up the middle of a road to a party
i can’t find you at the party
but then i find you in the kitchen
talking to two people
one is wearing medieval armour
the other is wearing a pikachu onesie
i say something about india
you look at me for two seconds
and then you say something to pikachu
and the person wearing medieval armour laughs
and takes out a phone
and arranges us in a certain way
and takes a picture
you look so cute you say to pikachu
i wonder what my face looks like now i say to you
you’ll have to speak up you say to me
i leave the party
over the next few days i decide to go to india alone
but i don’t go
instead i go to your house and lie in your bed
and we don’t talk about india for a while
and one day you ask me if i got the visa
and i say i am not going to india
and you say don’t let me hold you back
and i say but i’m not going to india
and i continue saying it until i forget
that i ever wanted to go
This is the second of a three-part series of poems by Oscar Schwartz. The third poem will be posted next Monday. Image from flickr.
I love this! So relatable and sweetly (in the best sense!) written.