PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

We called ourselves the lucky ones, the adventure seekers, the mad ones. We packed up our lives, carried them on our back, and continued on our journey. Miguel always in the lead. He walked at a steady pace, always contained and always looking forward. His black Jan sport backpack on his back, sporting patches from different countries; his green water bottle covered in stickers and his sneakers tied together and hanging from a carabiner barely attached to his backpack. Miguel’s black backpack, the very same one that had achieved world-traveler status, held in it our adventure, our memories and our purpose. Miguel held onto those tighter than the rest of us. His vision was always clear: keep moving forward, inspire others, but most of all, be brave enough to be inspired. That black backpack became our everyday reminder that the show must go on; that our journey wasn’t over yet. I saw that backpack enter countless houses, listen to conversations in dozens of different languages, witness acts of unmeasurable kindness, and experience enough wisdom to last it twelve lifetimes. We saw the Rocky Mountains, the pyramids of Tenochtitlan, the waterfalls of Zacatlán, the Finnish blizzards, the dry Arizona desert, the grey Polish buildings, and that backpack, our faithful companion and ever-present souvenir was always hanging from Miguel’s back. Looking back, that backpack represented the very essence of what kept us going.  It was thirsty for adventure, for a journey worth sharing. It accompanied us and that backpack, like Miguel, was our fuel. When I think of Miguel, I think of the magnificently wise words of Jack Kerouac “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live mad to talk, mad to be saved. Desirous of everything at the same time. The ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn. Burn. Burn.” Sometimes, I look down at my foot and see the word “burn” delicately etched into my skin almost invisible to the untrained eye, and I remember those who shared it with me. Those people who along with Miguel, packed up their lives, carried them on their back and decided that from that moment on they would be the lucky ones. Miguel taught us what it means to be passionate, to care so deeply about something that you feel as though your whole body is burning from the inside out. He became his purpose, and never wavered; his pace steady and always moving forward. And although that black backpack has never been full and never satisfied, it has never ceased to patiently wait for the next adventure to begin.