1998

I'm feeling romantic, so I carry our photo with me --
quite absurd at this point,
but it's been a beautiful memory.

I've loved you differently, but I've loved you aloud.
I don't miss the immaturity of that time,
but I wish I still had that kind of capacity.

Learned to protect myself, now I love
with half a heart and an eye on the exit;
far inferior to the cheesy exchanges thrown in abandon
when we didn't have romance to ruin it for us.

This photo will return inside that album
at the end of today,
and I'll think of you again when someone
mentions that kid we both knew growing up.

I'm sorry that I've made you
the object of this contemplative love,
exactly for your unlikely return to my life.

It's easier to love with only sweet remembrances,
and after years of thoughts overruling emotions
I wanted a moment to truly feel.