Rest Stop

^{(for Maje Adams)}

When given the opportunity to connect with  
No  
To be welcomed back into your  
Home  
No  
Family? 
Do you take it? 
// 
You reached out your hand and I took it. It felt too good —I pull away almost immediately 
I look behind me seeing the ash of my life I burned  
and I begin to cry 
Through the tears I see you next to me  
Still here  
Still—
Here  
Tears tear through my body and we sit down on the bench. You hold me close  
Rest here as long as you need, im here and im not leaving, but you need me to promise that you
will not go back. You made it too far 
Everything in my body says to turn back to the life I knew.  
I look deep into your eyes, my voice shakes as I whisper ok, I promise  
You do not let go as I watch the life I thought I knew disappear before my eyes.

Copyright © 2024 by Chandler Peters-Durose. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 9, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets. 

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“‘Rest Stop’ is about the friends who become almost like family to you and ultimately change you. This poem captures the grief of leaving your childhood and the journey of becoming yourself outside of the expectations created for you as a child, and choosing to be yourself authentically for the first time. I wrote this poem for my friend, Maje, who I met after moving out to Minneapolis.”
—Chandler Peters-Durose