Towards a Center

I'm learning that the urge to leave
Orbits round the need to stay
For some it comes round with orange leaves
For some it's every day

You feel that pull from it
Your whole body tilting

I remember in the second grade
Laying on my bottom bunk
Staring up at the thin red slats that held my brother up
Wondering why am I here in this thin skin
Breathing this cold air?
Instead of somewhere else
Running from a sabertooth
Picking rice from a curb
Sucking on a silver spoon
High above the ocean

And then there's moments just like these
Dancing in a well-dressed crowd
We are laughing and we are moving
And the music's growing loud
And we are all part to a circle
With my sister in the middle
She looks beautiful in that flowing dress
Holding that fragile child

Or to feel that you are where you belong
Is a wonderfully swift moment
Adrift in observation
And then you feel a pull
Towards a center

That will twirl you close enough
To feel its heat
And, far enough, you can spin on your own two feet