Had You Known Me Then
Penny Jeanette Yost
Remember the time
you took down your old box —
beaten and with torn edges —
and pulled-out photos of young boys playing
in black and white?
You were talking about Jim and Gary
and your cousins that lived next door in
Pacific Palisades.
Stories of skateboards and pranks
and swinging from the tree in the back.
You jumped off roofs in those days
and played in an abandoned house on the cliff
and I wonder what I might have thought of you
had I known you then.
Remember the time
I took down my old scrapbooks —
pages yellowing with age —
and flipped through images of young girls
playing in color?
I was talking about Robin and Kelly and Sanna
and neighborhood friends in Missoula, Montana.
Stories of snow in the winter
and summers up at Flathead Lake.
I looked awkward in those days
and liked going to school across the field
and I wonder if you would have loved me
had you known me then.
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