Dislocation

Daily writing prompt

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

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That weird feeling of being out of place, dislocation, was a regular part of a my life when I was working at boat shows. Just for an example, I wound up returning to cities where I’d stayed and had friends when I was traveling and working as a folksinger many years before.

There was an eerie familiarity to the places. The past was almost within reach, but the terrain was subtly different. In one place on the coast, some of the old portside restaurants I’d known were still in operation. But none of my friends were there.

It’s hard to feel grounded in an environment that is that altered that way, and after a few shows, I ceased trying, stayed at the show, and found new haunts and associates.

The past is just that, past.