One part I appreciate about living in New York City is the libraries. NYPL hosts diverse programming for dozens of interests. Today I attended a poetry workshop hosted by a poet and editor from Argentina. The facilitator introduced the attendees to two poets; Marosa di Giorgio and Susana Thenon. The poem I came up with is based on the theme of remembrance which id Giorgio heavily incorporates into her poems.

Title: 14 Years Later

I remember when you told me I was your best friend but you could never love me,

I remember your heated voice scalding

my ears for hours because another “she”

rejected your declarations of love misplaced

on a pretty face and empty intimacy

I remember the time I spent twenty dollars at Hot Topic for your Christmas present

It was a T-shirt with your favorite band AC/DC

I remember your half smile when you opened your gift and your eyes

expressing gratitude that you reserved

for me

I remember you in the words, ink and x-ed out declarations of admiration

between the lines of the diaries of my teen years that

I knew I’d never share out loud but baby

these long ago words managed to leap off the pages and sneak into your

half closed consciousness

So now here we sit at adjacent tables at a coffee shop

Fourteen years later

and you ask me “If I remember”

baby

I always remembered