The Come and Go

Over there—
that white house with the green tile roof is mine
just beyond the rusting yellow hydrant
with that glorious tree out front—

You can just leave
me here (forever), thanks!

Here—
I am announced, hugged, nourished
by food that isn’t microwavable burritos but meals
cooked with time
seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic and so much love

that gets caught in my throat and is difficult
to swallow sometimes now hard
to breathe because I am choking and choking
up because I am so full and fed

up with my hubris
I confess: You’re right, Dad
about that whole Cats in the Cradle chorus
nonsense but

then mom sighs, I shouldn’t
get that second piercing
and I forget I remembered
it wasn’t nonsense

and I don’t know why
it doesn’t go down as smoothly anymore
when did my dangling feet start to reach the floor?
my parents didn’t look like people before
I came back

as my own
on my own

I leave holding heavy
tins of leftovers to keep
in the freezer next to the excessive broccoli florets
preserved because I fear

running out of food and
time running out
the door, breathless
to catch my train pulling away from the station

because home is now somewhere else
I pack a bag to go
returning with a new piercing
feeling in my chest

From the author: "The Come and Go" was inspired by the conflicting, disorienting feelings that often come with growing up, with your home becoming a place you visit. Being a young adult often feels like existing in a liminal space of longing for the past and looking forward to the future—and not feeling quite at home anywhere anymore.

Eva Ingber is a first year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2023 where she completed the pre-med track while receiving her BA in English (Creative Writing Concentration) and a Chemistry minor. Before matriculating to medical school, she spent two years at Columbia University pursuing an MS degree in Narrative Medicine. She is a firm believer that her aspiration to be a writer and her aspiration to be a physician are not mutually exclusive—and she is always looking for ways to bridge the discipline divide, like contributing to publications that exist in this liminal space.