What happened after midnight & before I turned right

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

i stop at the intersection- 
a man with red luggage crosses the street, asking for directions, coal eyes perplexed-

a mirror looks back at me: 8 years ago 
we landed after midnight in the airport, 10 boxes, 2 luggages each,  tired & over-

whelmed by 10 lane freeway, lights crisscrossing, where to begin- 
& learn to stitch knot x knot, string x string & tie the loose endings –

my eldest reminds me of this day & counts down minutes from his sleek phone,
he is dapper in suit, young & ambitious, a far cry from the teen, clinging stubbornly  

to his childhood home, reluctantly packing his stuff in frenzied pace at last hours -
but my finger is now looking for a name in the pamphlet-    

I tap- here it is:  my youngest is graduating from Grade 8 - 
she is wearing a lovely shade of green dress & tall (in cream 3-inch shoes)-

after two facials, fake nails, hair & make-up by professional salon,
i (we) hardly recognize the 6 year old who excitedly pointed to 

the squirrels & playground outside our apartment on 1^st day in Canada,
eager to embrace our new life, curiously searching for trails, begin

each day, an adventure, to discover that underneath
different skin, hair & eye colors of many are the same dreams (as mine)

pressed tight into a bright bouquet of flowers, i inhale 
summer sky, wear my own colors:   emerald dress against blooming maple trees -     

& continue my drive, tilling the familiar road like my hand --  

Posted for:  D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight - Sharing a special milestone in our family. My youngest is the 2nd from right, with her best friends ~