by Faith Harris
I told you once, I would miss it.
You looked at me
With your sky ice eyes
Unable to see
The heart of my statement
As we walked past buildings
That contained knowledge of the world, yet
Confined us in their walls.
We went to the colonnades,
That old football stadium
Turned staircase where students
Write papers and eat lunch
Where we first fell asleep,
Back to back, with the spring
Sun threatening your freckled skin.
And where after the singing stopped
You looked at me and my heart
Turned into a merry-go-round
And my soul’s hands reached
Out pulling me towards you
Like we were the right
Ends of a magnet.
See, that’s what I meant
When I said I would miss
Those steps,
Because we sat there together.
And that Thai restaurant
Because it was there that your
Arms would wrap around me,
Bringing your mouth to my ear
When you said it for the first time.
And I will miss that closet
Of a room where our lips
Became acquainted
I will miss that parking lot
Where my call brought
You into my vision
For the first time
And where we would stand
After dark searching
For anything to say
So we could stay
And those half circle benches
Where we spent afternoon,
Afternoon and evening
Till we could no longer feel our butts.
And I will miss that cemetery
Where we laid in the shade and
Read words of
And for the dead.
I will miss that donut shop
Where we would go
When self-control gave out
And we would study that display case
And savor each pick
And that coffee shop
Perhaps most of all,
Where we went while
We were still pretending,
And we talked about art
Until chairs were placed
Upside down on tables.
And the barista handed us
A treat that wouldn’t keep
And we ate it on our
Way to the car under street lights.
Then later it became our ritual
Sunday afternoons and Friday mornings,
We would sit across tables
Laptops open
Minds focused on whatever
Needed to get done
Souls knowing
We were not alone
There will be new places
Places where we will form new rituals
Places where we will have seconds and thirds
But I will miss
These places
Because these are the places
Of our firsts
