[chasing dreams]
By: Jacob Miyasato

show me a place where
i can go
and be among
those things i love.
all the unnecessaries
are holding me back.
i know where i want to go
and who i want to be
and who i want to be with
but those things are seemingly
unreachable
pulling away from me
in a marathon race
and i don't know why
i'm not fast enough.

i had a dream--
and in that dream
i was fast.
you should have seen me.
i caught up with
every single goal i had.
nothing could escape me.
it was like dancing with perfect
choreography.
every step and every movement
spliced perfectly into perfect sound.
didn't even have to think.
you know what i mean?
everything i did was exactly
what i was supposed to do.

but that's not how i want to live.
i don't want to be invincible,
because then the contrast in life
would cease to exist
and those special moments
that i live and die for
would be extinguished.

i was powerful
in that dream
but that's not where i live.
i can't achieve my goals
and find the things i love
if i look at them from here.
the longer i gaze at them
in longing
in want
in despair
the sooner they will disappear
over the horizon.

i know what i have to do.
i don't need to look at my dreams,
because their images are burned
permanently into my mind's eye.
instead,
i should look at my feet.
i can work them hard
and through sweat and pain
they will grow stronger.
they will never be as quick
as they were in my dreams
but they don't have to be.
if i train them well enough
they will find their own way.
they will know where they need to take me.

in this life,
i will sprint for as long
as i can,
and after pushing myself
beyond my limits
i'll become too tired to continue.
my sprint will fade to a run
my run to a walk
my walk to a stop
and finally
i'll look up.
if i can't see them anymore,
that's when i'll know.
i've found them.
i will let myself smile
as i turn around
and see my dreams
in my footsteps.

Jacob Miyasato is a first-year Honors student and a Mechanical Engineering major.