Long Walks Through the Old North East

This place is new to me yet I feel so comfortable in its presence. I walk through the streets of St. Petersburg’s old North East and develop a relationship with a boy. Together, we discover truths about the good times and struggles of each other’s past. As we walk down the cobblestone streets he takes his hand in mine and the sun strokes my shoulders while a cool bay breeze hugs my body; and despite all the stress going on elsewhere, these comforts of nature instantly reassures me that everything is as it should be in this moment. We are just meeting each other as adults but discovering life like kids. Every color is more pronounced here, every smell more intimate, every tree seemingly filled with numerous possibilities for our future. Fallen fruit decorates the ground and provides a sweet treat for our journey. Plants grow wild, ignoring the paved sidewalk and wander into pathway so that we have to push past leaves to keep going down this road. We climb up oaks trees and share secrets and silences. Stretched out on a limb I look up and see sunlight shine through the negative space of the green leaves above. I have found a paradise here, and for now nothing else matters.