Moments I Was Loved
I slip my hand into the pocket
and my fingers brush against the sneakers
that my mother bought me in first grade
even though they were more expensive
than she’d planned.
I find the pink rug of my bedroom
that my brother vacuumed
when I was sick.
My hand closes around dried roses
from opening night
give to me by someone’s younger sister
and a little boy’s voice
saying I’m pretty.
I remove a photograph of myself
with my best friend
laughing in reflections of one another.
I pick up you at age seventeen
asking to kiss me.
-MWE
21 May 2001
