The art & literature magazine ArtAscent had a call for submissions on the theme of “Home”. I submitted the poem below based on my year living in Victoria. You can read the poem that was just recently published in the mag here. I’m also including it below as, unfortunately, the photograph that inspired the piece was not published with it, and I think it helps the poem make sense.
A Street Named Faithful
Tucked between ocean and city
you’re hard to find
and not that faithful
with faded blue skin
and chipped front tooth
how could I walk by each day and believe in you?
Even when set in concrete
raised eyebrows and question marks follow your name
because you’re not a place
yet I knew where I was with you
Carrying heavy bags of groceries
past the Victorian house on your corner
my soles walking the rhythms of your concrete
wishing you weren’t so long
Rainy mornings you felt my canvas shoes
the sharp point of my umbrella
poking the crevices
testing the depth of your foundation
My first greeting when I left the house
and the word calling me back
you let me know I was safe
home on a street named Faithful
If a streetcar named Desire
takes me away in my youth
in my old age
I will return to you
Cracked and peeling
when my colour has faded
and I have my own chipped front tooth
to find time and erosion
left their marks
but couldn’t erase you
© Charlene Kwiatkowski
textingthecity 