Adventure Boots

My dad told me,

"You can't have adventures without good shoes."

And so on the first day of college,

I traded in my old pair

For sturdy,

Trust-worthy,

Brand new

Adventure boots.

My adventure boots and I,

We've conquered a small piece of the world together.

Slivers of mountains, plains, and oceans,

Won and forfeited within the past four years.

We've danced along car park rooftops,

Tracing the edge with our toes and skirting away when

The wind was tempted to blow us over,

Watching trains go by in perfect silence.

We've dipped our souls into the Danube,

Laughing and splashing Jordan who,

Drinking liters of beer in the sunshine

Thought only of scaling the graffiti mountains.

We spun recklessly down grassy hills,

Breathless scary delight when we read the sign,

"The cliffs are subject to random mudslides,

Please beware."

We clambered desperately down Wisconsin Avenue

4am, hopelessly drunk,

Fearlessly claiming our newfound world,

Shouting to the lights that we were ready.

We fell in love in Cedarburg,

And the golden leaves and bonfire smoke

Stood still around us,

And followed like a friendly shadow.

We cried a lot,

On planes, in cars, at the ends of long nights

At the stop and start of adventures,

Because the unknown is never broken in.

But most importantly,

We learned what it means to live,

How to make a planet a universe,

How to find treasure in a home.

Adventure doesn't begin with a map;

But with a great windows, ready to break

Free and wild, begging:

Lace up your boots.