By Julia Wysokinska

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Maybe our photos will fill the gaps my memory won’t.

i’m not sure i ever liked blue raspberry
i just ate it because you didn’t
your mom always hated the sight of your artificial blue tongue
so i’d let you have cherry – my favorite
time after time

i always hated horror movies
the cheap scares were bogus and frightening
but for you, i’d bear the eventual nightmares
and when i’d snuggle up to my worn, golden teddy bear
you’d poke fun at it – claiming your plush purple turtle was one of a kind

back when red nail polish was “for adults”
and lip balm felt so sophisticated
we’d sing karaoke into the early evening
before your parents came to pick you up
and we’d play with dolls the next day

back before prom nights and limo fights
and sickly sweet juice graduated to jittery coffee
we’d imagine our lives as grown ups
with our dream careers and perfect pets
living side by side in the same apartment building

and as i sit in our old cafe
where we spilled our guts over pastries and tea
all i want is to watch you pull up a chair
and listen to another rant about your crazy science teacher
but i don’t even know how to talk to you anymore. 

Process

Writing this poem was a fun way for me to practice poetry with specific structure. For example, I wanted each stanza to have the same amount of lines, which is something that I don’t always pay much attention to in my poetry. This poem also has relatively little punctuation, save for a single period at the very end, which symbolizes the finality of falling out of touch with an old friend and believing that you won’t have that same level of connection with them ever again.