True North Poem by Lily Ives

You're just a story amongst stories in my life.
My book is filled with frantic ghosts on a paper
that dance the waltz into form to describe
intangible feelings collected over time.
My story and your story meet at crossroads
like the river and the sea to create another stream
of events that help us to anchor to our past.
I cannot tell who I am if it wasn't for these narratives
of heartbreak, of love, of despair
and small kind gestures exchanged between friends.
If I were to lie unconscious and suddenly open my eyes,
I'd want to know where I am;
not only as to my location within a room
but within those chapters I've written
and stored in my mind since I was a child.
My life is a tale of survival and hope,
which may never be told,
but it connects me to all my ancestors
as it points the way to the true north.