tired midwest parents

Where is the time that we planned so meticulously 
Hours over pages of memories and maps
The back and forth
The appetites and anxieties of 
Queue lines and quiet hours poolside
Sweat and stress wrapped into snapshots
Of nostalgia and joy and exhaustion

Lists are penned from anticipation
We smile wide at the ideal
Buy more comfortable shoes
Spend money we don’t have
To capture a fleeting moment
Of escape in a vacuum
Of expectations and false paradise

As the world ends around us
We dance in youthful imagination 
And commercial construction
Pulled from dreams and focus groups
Resigned to buy the moment 
Rent the emotion to get us on
To better days inspired

Yet, behold!
Here we navigate websites
Flirt with airfare, ideology
Heart aching for familiar
Longing for adventure
Clock ticking away patiently
We fade into waves of routine