“Instead of”

Paola Laborda

As I take a glimpse and start reading 

I space out  

Overthinking how life would have been if 

My head is about to explode 

Many thoughts circulate through my mind  

Enough to write a book  

A recollection, indeed 

Including the special moments 

And the ones we prefer to not speak about 

They are continuously on repeat 

Like a printer, when you click to copy the pages 

Just like that 

I go back 

I wonder 

How would life be different? 

Would I have ever encountered my friends at some other point in my life? 

Would I have continued playing the sport?  

My head often does this 

I start reading 

And there is a white blank page