Other Words for Home

by Jasmine Warga

I am learning how to be sad and happy at the same time.

Americans love labels. They help them know what to expect. Sometimes, though, I think labels stop them from thinking.

Sometimes it is comforting to me to remember how vast the universe is.

I wonder if it is exhausting to be a tree. To lose something, year after year, only to trust that it will someday grow back.

Hoping, I’m starting to think, might be the bravest thing a person can do.

Sometimes I feel like you have to say things out loud just to remind the universe that you’re still thinking about them.

That I cover my head not because I am ashamed forced or hiding. But because I am proud and want to seen as I am.

Sometimes talking to Mama reminds me of a feather duster brushing dirt away from a mirror. She doesn’t give you anything new, but she helps you better see what is already there.

have learned that sometimes the simplest things are the hardest things to say. That sometimes there is no word for what you feel, no word in any language.