Nostalgia for Home

Illustration by Oscar Guittierez

A poem by Robert Boyd

The beauty of the place where I was born,

Bordering a sea of blue,

Punctuated with fields of green.

People, loyal beyond belief—and proud

Of their city, 

of the amazing teams,

Cubs in baby blue, Sox in black and white,

Bulls bloody red, Bears navy like night,

Blackhawks’ colors like an African flag.

A city of sights nowhere else to be seen:

The mag mile, the silver bean, so reflective, 

Like a star in daylight,

Chicago’s skyline captured in black silhouette

That I see only in my dreams.

Route 66 begins its westward journey here,

The third largest city in the country,

A home that is so close to me 

But where I cannot go:

Chicago.