I can find no semblance in him to
The boy I loved
For thirty-six months
And then maybe then some

Does going away neutralize all he did?
I search in his face but cannot find the kid
With two thousand freckles
And a small, sheepish grin
In fact both are gone and
Foreign feelings are rampant

I always thought
If I ran into him
That I'd know instantly
That he'd see me, then
We'd greet each other awkwardly
Maybe even exchange a hug
Because I sat with this boy
In class, talked of love
Revealed by mood rings
And passed notes
And parents
Elementary-aged girl
With choppy bangs and
Awkward glasses
Elementary-aged boy
With stunted growth and
Eager bashfulness

And I consider for a moment
Hovering over
To hit add friend
But four years is
A lot of time
He's clearly not the same as then
And honestly
It's shallow
But I don't see what I saw
In him
He's just so different and it's
It's
Enough for me to exit

(even though I still remember
sharing smarties
a moment of muddled embarrassment because I forgot
february 28th wasn't a leap year
and being teased
and thinking this was flirting
oh, and I still don't have an idea
and I'll still sometimes think of it
look back with fondness on past times
and be glad for the experience)