Spaces

we arrive

into this New World,

and explore

our passions

our obstacles

each other

but still

this space is not yet mine

that Desk

that Room

that Drive

overlapping zones of stressful love

with strangers, friends, and More

this space is mine

---

we return

and trace the paths we once did every day

side by side

separated from yourself by minutes, years, and change

---

because when you look back

the spaces in the corners in your mind

will not be filled with that Curve,

that Number

does not value all you have touched

what matters is

the feeling of That Chair at That Study Spot

surrounded by the faces that feel like home

Or That Walk to That Building you could do (and have done) blind and lost

These spaces were mine

---

we look down at this map

and see your footprints from where you have gone

in that House, on that path

in that once unfamiliar City

from what you didn’t know to what you now understand

and your fingerprints from where you have touched

that Bed, that Coffee Cup, those Books

you exist there then, now, and for time to come

for within these spaces

you have created an extraordinary world

—on college and beyond #foreverduke

Michaela Domaratzky is a Trinity senior.