“Childhood Friends, Grown Up”

prompt: "old relationship"


Nine years to her eight, a
Block away in a house that
Always smelled of black cherry
Kool-aid, and stay-at-home mom,

I saw her washing a dusty
Volkswagon with paper towels,
Trying to convince her dad
It was clean enough to go
Get pizza. A little girl

Who couldn’t pretend and
Another who ignored reality,
Filling in the days with bike
Rides and board games. Twenty

Years later, we never fail to
Send a birthday card, even though
When we run into each other at the
Grocery store, neither knows what to say.

"McKey"

prompt: "old relationship"


Homeless, she kept a small
Apartment downtown, her hair wild,
Eyes intelligent. We’d
Talk in the back room of the
Public library where she’d
Hand out Claddagh pins and sixty
Year old memories in the reference
Section. She was going to
Write a book; I wonder if she ever did.