We Were Seventeen

I don't recall being born.
           (C'mon. Tell me you Do).
How
ever, I did remember dying.
             (At least for a few minutes, til
                 brain
                 broke
                 down ).
 
Were
you ever there with me?
Did
you ever tell me that you loved me?
(don't think so at all)
Back
in days of school, we were "friends".
How many times
did I imagine kneeling at your feet and beseeching  
you to say you cared that I lived.
 
I'd
stand out by the mailbox on Carll's Path,
chain smokin ciggies
and you'd come pick me up in your
compact Dodge.( I'd stop my smokin out of
respect).
Some
times we'd skip first period and go to
a diner to drink tea and discuss
what Bob Dylan may or may not have meant.
 
Of
course, you always had a "boyfriend", and I was
too shy to tell you I loved you.
 
Do
you remember 'us' at all at 17 ?

In '71, we visited a few days in Kansas.
 
In '03, I came to visit you and 'your man'
in north California. Stunned at how youthful
and beautiful you still were.
 
Maybe
I still love you, half-a-century later.
 
Who  
knows?  
 
Rest assured, this torment will all be over soon.
 

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