I wrote something

[ladytory]

In Answer
by ladytory

You were sunlight slipped through rain
warm, golden
You were music traveled down telephone lines
in the dark

I can still hear your fingers on the strings
remember bedrooms slept in when you
long-distance played me deep into sleep

You were dancing, movies, the mall and
warm leather jackets

A smile to big to believe
A voice deep enough to drown
Sixteen and beautiful
Twenty-four and terrified

You were the one who always needed but
never really wanted
me

You were hands in denim pockets, flannel shirts,
cigarettes and chew

I almost kissed you that last time
Stood in your dad’s driveway
Neither quite able to let go
(Did you know it was the last time?)
Wanted to tell you to spit that crap out
Then kiss you until my tongue
Was wintergreen nicotine numb
(I didn’t.)

You were a person and persona
a character, a dream
a friend and a stranger
an aching kind of comfort
what if, if only
often a regret

You were loved, here or gone, some
twenty years

Take it. No need to give it back.

You have always been a gift.