Land.

When, and if, you ever find yourself out and in the middle of nowhere, far and away from the home that is yourself, how do you find land again? 

Back in the day I had this friend, and whenever I was having a particularly tough time I’d ask them if I could come over and lay on their couch. Sometimes I’d lay there and cry, other times I’d lay there in sleep, lay there and let the TV watch me, lay there and read, lay there and just breathe.

I recall one night when I came to the couch and almost crumbled into it. It caught me, held all the pieces and parts of me that had for weeks been coming undone and unraveling at the seams. I came apart until I could bring myself back together again. 

In life when I’ve found myself out and in the middle of nowhere, far and away from the home that is myself, I find a lifeboat, sometimes it’s a phone call, a patch of ground, a long and empty road, a blank page, a friend’s couch. I find the boat and can make my way back to land; find my way back to my own shores. — ẹniafẹ isis

(artist Shantell Martin)