By Emma Stopper
The first time my world changed
The crowd jostling me
My head was swarming
with new opportunities
The quick city
Made my thoughts
sprint
Conversations fly past
Rent, roommates, romance
Dozens of bodies
hurrying past
Their whole lives
happening in front of me
loud and quiet
old and young
I know everyone’s story
and no one knows
mine
Bright billboards surround me
and when I look away
Their messages remain
A bright reminder
of a city that’s
hard to forget
I’m standing here on a whim
A split second decision
A new branch on a tree
Nerves overcome the excitement of the city
I could go home
Leave the rush
But fate leads my feet
My first step
Into a new life
was onto a crowded sidewalk
And the sidewalk listened
to my hopes
It captured each one
And remembered it
With the millions of others
Who stood there, before