Spring Water Lane

“Spring Water Lane” is a poem that gets its title from the street I grew up on in Highlands Ranch, CO. It’s about how memories fade—and their fluidity pushing against something as solid as loss.

When I was in middle school, I lost my grandma and mother within a year while discovering something I always knew—I was gay. This all kinda fractured me a bit, and I don’t have many memories of middle school because of it. Just some vivid images here and there. A few conversations.

Like a teacher asking me in front of my class if I should get a higher dose of Adderall because I was a distraction. Playing Halo and shooting airsoft guns with the same three boys—my middle school fraternity. A girl sitting across from me at lunch and asking if my mom really died over the summer break or if I made it up.

The poem tries to bottle all of these emotions. I hope you enjoy it!

Originally published on Humans of the World.