Certainty

The first time I knew what I wanted

Was when I got my first paycheck

Seven hundred fifty pesos

Turned into a pair of sneakers

Converse, pink, size seven

"It feels so good to get what you want,"

I told my dog—but

the smell of newness didn’t last, and

So came my next object / next desire

—"A camera, that’s what I want" / and

I worked and worked, until

with paycheck  seventeen

I bought my new eyes

I stepped out / read the world

with my feet

conversed / in the old Converse, and

Just like this / many desires

were fulfilled

disappeared

made way

For the next desire

the next question

the next path

to walk toward

One day I woke up

with a room full of desires

not a single one within

no path / no question

The first time I knew what I wanted

I freed myself

leaving the room

of my old desires