{"id":1746,"date":"2025-05-08T10:01:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/?p=1746"},"modified":"2025-05-08T10:01:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:01:19","slug":"dont-let-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/2025\/05\/dont-let-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Let Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s spring 1996, and it\u2019s you and me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lifeblood of the city, the Metro around us,<\/span><\/p>\n

in our ears, our bones, electric heat burns the nose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pain grips my back; your small shoulders slant,<\/span><\/p>\n

textbooks a weight beyond the classroom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bodies press in, jostle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tandem we sway, each curve a dictator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Security rail above, too high for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

I check\u2014your white-knuckled fingers thread my bag.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let go.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the belly of Madrid. It\u2019s you and me<\/span><\/p>\n

Closer than before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tunnel lights flash, ozone wind through lowered windows.<\/span><\/p>\n

A rhythmic lullaby, wheels ca-clacking<\/span><\/p>\n

vibrate through the soles of my aching feet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hours they\u2019ve stood through strings of stops and starts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Miles they\u2019ve walked down streets, up stories and stairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dim underground passages lie behind, lined with<\/span><\/p>\n

shredded platform ads, old news fading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not us, say it. Not us.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hora de la siesta, and it\u2019s you and me.<\/span><\/p>\n

No rest for trains, for us<\/span><\/p>\n

with the crush of men, pores oozing fumes of liquor,<\/span><\/p>\n

and the stink of women, sweat dripping,<\/span><\/p>\n

and the chatter of tourists making me wish<\/span><\/p>\n

our skin was brown, our eyes not blue.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last stop, last day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brakes squeal, intercom blaring, the mass lurches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fall into me.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s here, and it\u2019s you and me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Little brother on my arm.<\/span><\/p>\n

How will you do this after I\u2019ve tossed the cap,<\/span><\/p>\n

when I\u2019m across the ocean,<\/span><\/p>\n

and you are alone?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The doors whoosh, people spill onto the platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hot, stale air dries the throat, wets the eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stuck to my side, you follow<\/span><\/p>\n

five years behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are carried along, a tide of humanity and time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let go.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s spring 1996, and it\u2019s you and me. Lifeblood of the city, the Metro around us, in our ears, our bones, electric heat burns the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1747,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions\/1747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}