For Her
The day you
and I met
was long ago
from the day
you and I last
spoke tell me
how life has
gone if I
could ask that
of you
The others are
out there
somewhere
across the nation
they are going
about their lives
I could encounter
one of them on
a slice of cement
we could stand
in silly silence
not knowing what
to say to the ghosts
of our pasts
We would say
it’s been a while
and it’s good
to see the other
doing so well
to ignore falistitudes
and fiction that
pours from the
our lips
it would be sour
on our tongues
one of us
would say they
had to go
one would suggest
grabbing time to
catch up we
would never
see each other
again again those
would be last
words last glances
last meetings
I do not
want to meet
those after such
time has passed
since we are no
longer chained
together no longer
bound by classes
social niceties or
conveniences we
shouldn’t have to
play along anymore
we shouldn’t have
to occupy the
same street we
probably don’t won’t
wouldn’t even know it
if we did stumble into
the presence of another
I am forgettable and
time changes us
all for the better
or worse we
could meet again
chuckle through the
awkwardness in the
chill of Chicago
show only the
public parts of
our persons before
moving on and
forgetting
Forgetting that we
spent eight years
together under stain
glass windows we
sat in subdued silence
in wooden pews we
sang songs of spirits
at school desks we
worked joked & spoke
most of us anyway
I know you haven’t
forgotten or perhaps
you have
I wonder if I
am the villain in
their stories like
they are in mine
and yet I wonder
where they all are
if they are happy
what they are doing
with their lives
a part of me
wishes I could
ask someday
I wish I could
speak to you
once more in
a way outside
of my head
though most of
my conversations
with them
converge there too
still I could run
into them & know
you are gone they
are missing you
can not reappear as
a figurative ghost
of my past just a
ghost guilt & regret
wrap around my
chilled arms maybe
you and I could
capture closure if
I knew where your
grave was though
maybe it is good
we will not see
each other again
you and I can’t
speak again
There is only
one thing I would
really want to
say to you
I’m sure you’ve
heard it before
I am sorry