Leaving Rhode Island: July 4th

India Point Park

Fourth of July

It’s, uh, nice

I’d come back for that

Not just the food trucks

Or the symphony

Every city has those, but—

Something about all those people on the hill

It…

Well, it’s Rhode Island

So anytime you have that many people

All, you know, gathered together in one place

It’s like—

You bump into this person

You bump into that one

You see an ex-girlfriend

An ex-boyfriend, a few ex-spouses

Distant relatives

Long lost friends

High school classmates

The kid who sold you pot senior year

The girl who went on one amazing date with you

And then never called you again

Your whole life

Could fit up on that hill

At least—

It feels that way sometimes

That it’s so…compressable

You stand at the bottom of the hill

You hold your hand out

And you can fit a whole state in the palm of your hand

Just like Neil Armstrong and the moon

There’s something so comforting about that

I mean, we’re small

We’re the smallest state

We’re…so tiny, but—

I mean, who isn’t—

In the grand scheme of the Universe, you know?

All those people

Up on that hill

That…

That’s something

I’d come back for