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A Girl I Once Knew

She was quiet
Almost shy
And kind.
I was crude
Rough
In a hurry
I only thought of me
She thought of us.

When we dated
We frequented local places
Never venturing beyond
Our quiet town
We had some good times
But I grew tired of the sameness
I wanted to see the world
Meet the smart money
Feel the hustle
And take in the give.

Eventually things faded
Our calls were infrequent
Her voice became cold and formal
A tiny crack seeped between us
Growing into a fracture
That couldn’t be healed
When it ended
We went on our own
But it hurt me more 
Than I admitted
Walking home that night I bit my lip
To keep from crying.

One day my mother said
She thought she saw her
In town
Holding a young child by the hand
She looked happy.
“I thought you didn’t like her” I said
Stopping, my mother searched my face
“I was used to seeing you as a couple that’s all.”


We met by chance years later
We changed
The world changed
Things happened
We stared at each other
Not speaking
Just staring
Standing
At arm’s length 
In awkward silence
I was going to ask about children
But I didn’t
The anguish 
And bitterness of rejection
Was still buried somewhere inside.

We parted the same way we met
Awkwardly
Memories came back
And I realized 
She was comfortable where she was
A place where time moved 
In its own peculiar way
A world of
Small shops
Familiar strangers
Clean streets
A place where mothers 
Kept an eye on their children.
All in all
Not a bad place to live
And certainly not a bad life.

A voice inside my head
Whispered “Who was she?”
I pretended not to hear
When I look back
I remember the time
A girl walked into my life
For a brief moment.
Maybe it was love
Or infatuation
But whatever it was
She was the girl I once knew.

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