Become a Book Nerd
When you’re not reading books, read our newsletter.
Community Stories. Get Inspired, Get Underlined
Thinks & Inks
753 Miles Away
Ah, Tennessee
So far away from the cornfields of the Midwest
You are like
A new pair of shoes
That don’t fit just right,
My feet sliding around,
The laces coming undone too easily
I knew that moving wasn’t going to be easy
But I didn’t know it was going to be so…
Hard.
Tennessee, you are beautiful.
I love your rolling hills,
Thick forests
And amazing wildlife.
The winding roads, warm summers
And delicate expanse of wildflowers
But I miss Nebraska.
I miss the locust tree,
The crabapples,
The concrete,
The potholes from snow,
Streetlights,
Downtown’s sunrises
I miss my mother’s hugs,
My dad’s corny jokes,
My sister’s never-ending love.
I miss my grandmother’s smile,
My grandparents’ farm
I miss being five minutes away
From all of my friends,
Now it’s 13 hours.
I miss just being able to touch them,
To feel them,
To run my hands through my sister’s hair,
To smell my mother cooking in the kitchen,
Hearing my dad mow the grass.
Now that everyone’s so far away
And this Midwest girl
Feels so out of place
In a Southerner’s world,
I value what I did not before…
That every day I could come home
And I hug my mom,
Kiss my sister,
Laugh with my dad.
I miss so many things
Now that I’m away
And FaceTime
Does not do it justice
I miss them.
I miss Nebraska with every fiber of my soul,
Every thumping of my heart.
My friends back home don’t understand
Why I miss Nebraska.
Nebraska? That flat, corn place?
Why would I miss that?
Because it is something familiar in a new, strange world.
A world where coleslaw and sweet tea are served at restaurants
Where everyone says “y’all” instead of “you guys”,
Where places are named after war generals,
And houses saw battles of the Civil War
I miss everything.
And I know
That as time goes on,
I will grow into Tennessee.
The shoes will start to feel right,
I won’t feel so out of place.
That day will come, I know.
But Nebraska,
In all its simple beauty,
Will always have this girl’s heart.
Join the conversation
21
Post a comment
3 Likes
1 Comment
21
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Book Nerd
May 5, 2022👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻