Look Up

I like standing up on MAX because I like how my body sways as the train speeds up through the tunnel. I like looking at the people and listening to conversations and imagining what we'd talk about if we were left alone, and if it was over coffee, what would they order. I like deciding where to get off only when I get there.

I like walking with Ben Lee's music floating in my head. "I think about the city, it's living proof that people need to be together." I like smiling with eye contact and people smiling back. I like not knowing where I'm going. I like looking at art in Old Town but admitting that I don't often "get it". I like being alone, but only in the city.

I sit in Pioneer Square and watch people live and feel overwhelmed because I am so in love with Portland and the people who make it so beautiful. I love the little boy chasing pigeons all over the red bricks and I love the woman from Minnesota who's really only interested in finding bargains and I love the girl with the same camera as me who's writing in her notebook. Portland's where I live and today I didn't need anything but to exist in its heart.

"I'm still singing, twisting new melodies, breaking arrangements
Thinking about my heart, I guess you've heard, sometimes it's heavy
But I just keep moving; when I hit a wall, I look up at the sky..."

posted by Allison Francis @ 3:59 PM