Milk reminds me of my home and the love in it, something I’ve been searching for here.

Being a freshman gets stale quick

The dining hall options are various

and yet

I tire quickly

I wonder where the taste of home went

and when my mother’s face went away

I wonder what it was about the food

cramped in my pantry

stuffed and stacked in my fridge

Then, I remember the milk

My mother, every morning before school

Poured me a cup of milk

to be left on the kitchen counter for me

It was one step of breakfast I didn’t have to take

in the flurry of late awakenings

But here

where the Sprite, Fanta, and Diet Coke spill over in waterfalls

I stopped drinking milk

the colors of all the other drinks distracted me

but they were rarely filling

As the weeks of first semester turned

I yearned for a cold glass of milk

Possibly as a reminder of the love at home

Or a craving of the routine to which I was accustomed

So

I stole a carton from JJ’s

Planet Oat Extra Creamy

Under the camera’s facade

Milk now resides in my fridge

And my dorm feels more like home

Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit (c. 1900) by Paul Cézanne via ArtVee