In first grade
Our wooden desks were nosed by each other,
Our colorful name tags were precisely taped on the top,
Our names written in perfect hand writing.
Will you be my friend? I said , my cheeks the color of a rose.
Yes! You said, as a vast smile covered your face.

In second grade
I moved from the city to the country.
Now I live miles and miles away.
Don’t go, stay, will you come visit? You said.
I’ll see you in the summer, best friend.
And we parted ways, leaving a trail of tears.

My pool is where we reconnected.
For the little time we saw each other,
My pool clutched our secrets, preserved our laughs,
Made us smile, and kept us close.
It feels like we were never absent from each other.

We are seniors now,
About to enter college.
Even though we met different people, had different teachers,
Even though we take notice of different applauses, from different people,
Even though we embrace the same smile we’ve always shared.
We both know we still have each other
As best friends.