i paid two dollars plus sales tax for a
rosie the riveter pin in the air & space smithsonian
i did a backbend in front of the washington monument
and felt my body slowly start to collapse
i felt the anger boil inside of me
as someone dared to drop a water bottle at the tomb of the unknown soldier
i shook hands with an old friend
agreed he'd be my running mate in ford's theatre
i forgot my future president cup
in our dinky hotel
i felt my heart shatter again and again
in the holocaust museum
i found myself in washington dc
i found who i'm supposed to be
i saw myself
in the pretty city
walking down the street with the pretty people
going from my pretty apartment
to my pretty job
i saw my pretty smiling face
amongst their neutral ones
saw my pretty future
in the cobblestones
and the traffic
and the lights
heard my pretty future
in the honking horns
and people on calls
and the general sounds of cats
i felt my pretty future
in the energy of the city
and the chilled breeze in the air
and the electricity of it all
zipped through my limbs and my joints
ignited the spark in my belly i've carried since birth
the siren calling
"you've found your future home"
in those three short days i witnessed everything i'll ever need
and for the first time ever i feel peace when i think about growing up and ageing
