Erasure from Debra Ginsberg's "Waiting"

As a way of centering myself

I wanted to drive by my old high school and

My old house.

A

Sucker for nostalgia,

I was surprised to see that

My old house was still exactly where

We’d left it, the only difference being that there was a stranger in

Front of it

I looked at the house and let

Myself drown in memories.

I didn’t know then that I would

Come to a realization that had been building.

I felt that at

Twenty years old, I still knew nothing and had experienced very

Little of what I considered real life.