The Streetlight Invited Me
to celebrate my first step out today
This 6 PM is swallowing the sun
Sunday will be shifted to Monday
Curtain tucks get pulled out
The streetlight will be turned on
And I haven’t gone out today.
My cold coffee by morning is still there,
Haven’t sipped it, never have I ever been busier than this
My room is out of light and I am out of ideas
How can time fly so fast while
I am sitting with no progress?
Now there is one light
peeking out behind the window — the streetlight
I know this friend well — it’s a bit crazy,
twinkling so often like a mirror ball
not partying at the disco but celebrating my fiasco.
Hours or minutes, not quite sure,
The streetlight keeps twinkling
like it is wondering what I am
Irritated yet curious, I go out and slam my door
— for the first time on Sunday.
Under the streetlight with a high light bulb,
the breeze slightly touches my skin and
my lungs breathe in the smell of grasses and wet soil
I stare at the street, realizing some new
— ad brochures on a pole, a wild gray cat on the road.
The streetlight doesn’t only celebrate my fiasco
but celebrates my first step out today,
to see the changes around, small and insignificant,
while I locked myself in the room
The fresh air brings a new mood shift to me.
The older lady, my neighbor, approaches me
and says, “‘been a while like this,”
I nod and reply, “So, no one cares about it,”
She smiles, “No, you are the one who cares,
let yourself stand outside today.”
Silence never brought me peace before
As I look up at the streetlight,
It comes on, goes out, comes on, goes out
The light never gives up, so I won’t either
Thank you, I whisper, for inviting me out.
© 2022 Indah Maulida
I sincerely thank the streetlight for giving me the inspiration to write this poem. You also invite me to go outside today.
As my country isn’t eligible for Medium Partner Program, if you love my work, you can support my writing here. It means a lot to me as a writer and I will keep writing my best.
Thank you.
Here are other poems I wrote:
