It happened in Science
once overlooked
my boy next door and I
were the only two who could
be in the 6th grade
He answered the question of,
“What is the meaning of osmosis?”
I followed soon after explaining
what a deciduous tree is
Doing 2 digit multiplication at
home while singing along to
love songs, replacing names of other
boys with his
I held my breath when he
walked by
looking at him from the swings
although he was at the football field
I gave myself the division
problem 360 divided by 8
it didn’t keep me occupied for
very long
Competition went hand in hand
with this love
his face would turn to demand the
percentage of what I got on
my spelling test from me
his sour lemon face would dejectedly turn back
around, for spelling was my expertise
Every competitive smile was a kiss
every word spoken was a punch in
the gut
Four years later, I’m memorizing
the coldest place in the continental
U.S.
just so I can beat the
cockiness right out of him