This road trip felt different.
We rode in a different car for almost each road trip
yet I still sat on the left side of the car.
This time with an audiobook and newer playlist.
Solo felt different.
So many unfamiliar things despite my seventh or eighth times here.
I discovered a flyover painted with a mural.
There’s the food I have not tried yet.
Magetan felt different.
We did not stop to sleep but we rode through
the entire afternoon while I slept and put a headphone.
Hard to recall how’s the journey through passing through it.
Malang felt different.
There are still good places to eat. New spots to visit.
This will be my brother’s last year at university.
My seventh or eight times there.
Who knows when will I ever go back to the
morning cold that always brings good memories.
Semarang felt different.
We still did not explore much.
but we found another place to eat.
I wanted to ask her if spilled a tea of coffee in the waiting room
before we hop onto a bus to the city in the evening.
We missed the view alongside the toll road, which I got to see the next year.
I was supposed to go there again for different reasons.
Meeting more people, in desperation to make things work.
Now we are distanced from one another.
Dreams have to be sketched out first before they’re shared.
Think twice, and practice speaking thrice.
This road trip felt different because I was out there
yet I was by myself hiding behind my own thoughts
wondering when, how, and “what’s up with these walls?”
Perhaps to make me look forward to another road trip.
