I guess an airport is as good a place as any
to cry in. In fact, if I recall correctly,
airports placed third on Buzzfeed’s
“Top Ten Places to Cry in Public” list.
They were beaten only by underneath
the bleachers in any American high-school,
and the family stalls in mall bathrooms.

There are probably other trendsetters
crying in this airport right now:
hidden in the stiff-backed black chairs,
or behind overpriced water
in the duty-free shops, or even
in plain sight, sprawled on traffic-dirtied
carpet or recently swept floors,
passer-by too busy crying themselves
to notice them. Maybe everyone
in this airport is crying. Overtired children
are throwing fits in brightly lit fast-food lines,
and businessmen with suits and overnight bags
are weeping quietly on the escalators.
We meet each other’s reddened eyes
and pass politely by, making no mention
of what we have left, are leaving behind.
 

Victoria Larriva is a senior at Texas Tech University, where she studies Mathematics, English, and Computer Science and is the President for the Tech Poetry Society. She has been writing poetry since she was eight years old. When not busy with school or crying in airports, she enjoys reading, hiking, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.