Out of the haze from smokestacks, I found Jesus on the train. Sunshine over wheat fields burned these eyes with glory. I tasted, smelled and thirsty for more, explored beyond the hotel walls. Venturing into the arid night with the prairie wind whispering Sweet Judas Come Home. Kissing my hair like a liver the lights stretch like an endless inland sea. Picked with strands of towers, grasses and lake breeze. Casinos blaring the neon hope into the night sky as the El rattled over the centuries of industry that rust the foundation of this beautiful sprawl. Tomato sauce and hot peppers mixed with Garam Masala and Java. Steam escaping the subway tunnels as honest grit and bloody sweat carve away my insides, hulling me to my bones. Steak in the stockyards of worth. You have changed me Chicago. And I will never be whole again as part will always be here. So I leave that piece of bone here to temper until I return again to graft it back and be born anew. The train whistles low and long as the wheels take me away to the hills and valleys of my life. I rejoice in this new piece of self and my cup is full. #poetryslamsofIG #chicago #pcnc19 #lydiadittrich https://www.instagram.com/p/B0hBuXvJF1m/?igshid=xc4s7gx7zzln