Language & Logic

I

The pool deck is always too bright, chlorine thick in the air

and the sound of timers snapping in the hands of volunteers.

Hours of waiting for a few minutes of racing.

I stand behind the block, shivering as the crowd echoes.

My heart thumps wildly in my chest trying to jump out.

When I dive in the noise disappears

and it is only water, breath, and the lane line beside me.

I finish, pull myself out,

and the world floods back in all at once.

II

When I read, the room fades until I forget it is even there.

Words pull me in like a current.

I look up and the clock has jumped an hour

but I do not feel the time pass.

Characters become louder than real people.

Their thoughts feel almost like mine

and each page feels like a door I am stepping through.

I close the book and blink hard

the room returning in pieces.

Sometimes the story stays with me longer than the real day did.

III

Pudding curls up on my lap

heavy and warm like he owns the spot.

His fur is soft and striped

and he blinks at me with slow confidence

as if he is giving me permission to exist.

He purrs the second I touch him

a steady vibration that settles my whole chest.

When he stretches out his paws

his toes spread like tiny stars.

I always feel calmer with his small, patient company

and he makes any space feel like home.