Arms reach out,
Touching but never feeling.
My fingertips brush the surface,
I fall.
The world is a big place,
So why should my experiences be limited to this place?
South Plainfield is small.

Why did my parents choose to live here?
Why do adults always want to be somewhere quiet?
Somewhere without action?
Anywhere else had to be a better choice.

The world is a book,
I am the reader,
I want more.
I refuse to read only the one page of the monotonous town in little Jersey.

A want to get out is not a want at all,
Perhaps even chaos is cause for celebration.
Day by night, night by day, picture by memory,
Always here, always have been, always will be.
Maybe someday, hopefully one day.

But what if I don’t get out?
What if I stay?
Stuck forever in this town?
I can’t imagine a worse punishment.

It’s exhausting sometimes,
Wanting something so badly.
Three more years,
Three more years of, “just wait and see me when I leave,”
And I’m getting out, don’t worry about me.