i made a pact as a child under the moonlight

snuggled in a sleeping bag with a girl i thought i knew

we weren’t ladies, no, but we were humans

and even then we longed for More

so we made them, a set of rules

instructions for our lives

we weren’t Ladies, no,

but we would become them

the first rule was about language, a Trivial thing

i liked it, she didn’t

she used it, i didn’t

by the end of my elementary career i had a whole arsenal of words at my disposal

Ammo i would not let loose

and she let hers go like wildfire until the forest was so far gone

i lit a match of my own

but the spark would Not take hold

no, we weren’t ladies,

but we were old enough for rule two nonetheless

a Boy we both were thought to love

neither knew it wouldn’t last, but still we knew some things were not meant to be

i was alone when she first knew him, the Missing body in my chemistry class

grown very present in her mind

he would fly away in a year’s time

leaving only Silence in his wake

she would find someone new to dry her tears

what remained has gone forgotten,

like the way she laughed at a Midnight joke

Under the moonlight