Homesickness (Press)

The sound of the leaves reminds me of the ocean.
I miss it.
The faint taste of salt lingers on my fingertips,
left over from the ice cream we made in Chemistry.
Between these and the cool breeze blowing across the page,
I am homesick.
Not for my house, sitting quietly on my car-lined street,
though that is my "home",
but for the hot sandy beach and the
sound of my friends goofing off among the waves,
which is also a kind of home for me.
The heat here is similar to that which I sat through there,
lost in reflection on the warm, wooden bench,
but the sky there is bluer, the clouds whiter,
or at least, to me, that's what it seems like
though that may be just me, trying to find some reason,
explanation, for this feeling of homesickness
I can't otherwise explain.
The friends I have here are the same ones
that traveled with me there
and the sun, the sky, clouds, are also the same.
Or maybe it's just the ocean,
the soft comings and goings of the waves
as the tide moves farther away,
the birds overhead fighting for some food left behind
or just the knowledge that if I were to look up,
in any direction, anywhere, I would see my friends,
all sharing in the same feeling of awe, wonder, and fear
that I felt then.