By James Dewey
measure the place with your own two feet
count height & length & width with breath
walk & run the streets to know
how far & long & strong you might go
step out to get lost
then find your way back home again
(so strange to say home again
here)
but this is how maps are made I’m telling you
this is how a body becomes a compass
surrounded by strange trees & prickly bushes & tiny lawns & dangling flowers & so many
rows of succulents & morning light licking the bricks
everywhere
look up & wave at walkers & bikers & joggers who stare at you staring
at their beautiful dogs
and say buenos días
& lend them a hand why not even pick up some trash or share your groceries with this
woman & child sitting on the sidewalk & smile
this is how vecinos are made I’m telling you
& this is how a body begins to begin again
James Dewey’s poetry has appeared in Irreantum, Inscape, Perspectives, Reformed Journal, and Off the Coast and will appear later this year in Rock & Sling, Sojourners, Time of Singing, and Integrated Catholic Life. Together with poet Robbie Taggart, James recently started an Instagram account called ComeFollowMePoetry as a place to publish poems in dialogue with weekly scriptural readings. Originally from Boise, Idaho, James currently lives in Bogotá, Colombia.