As I remember who you were,
A tear slides down my cheek.
Was it you, through all these years,
And your warm embrace that I did seek?

I’m looking back upon you;
My yearbook as a source.
You were the only one who guided me
Through my rocky, stumbly course.

A tear fell upon the page.
I watched it slide away.
The paper is scarred, like me.
My memories are fading away.

I knew I’d never completely forget you,
But my inquiry was would you forget me?
I was shaken the day I forgot your voice,
And your face I could no longer see.

My memories drifted back
To the last time I looked at your face.
Those memories of that day
Time is trying to erase.

It was just my time to leave you, I guess.
But why did it have to be that way?
I left you without another word said,
As I turned my back on you and walked away.

It was my mistake.
It would cost me so much more than I knew.
I ignored your pleas and wondering whys,
And out of your life, I flew.

I was angered by something you had not said,
But now I wish I’d forgiven you,
Because the regret and grief I feel now,
Must be ten times worse for you.

For you knew not why I played my silent game,
Which I knew all along was you,
But showed not the courtesy to drop you the hint,
And my anger for you just grew.

And I returned to my final state once more,
Grabbing the phone book from the book case…
I searched out your number, and dialed it out,
Wanting to hear your voice—to see your face.

It’s been eleven years since I’d heard your voice—
Such a sweet melody.
Just hearing your voice made me break down and cry,
In my attempt for an apology.

We talked for nearly an hour,
Before we decided to meet face-to-face.
It would be one week from Saturday.
Just the two of us, here in my place.

The week flew by before I knew it,
And soon I heard her knock on the door.
Seeing her brought back old memories.
I remembered that last day even more.

She looked just as I remembered her.
The same as her picture in the yearbook.
I lead her into my apartment,
And I showed her around for a look.

I hung up her coat in my room,
And next found me enveloped in an arm and an arm.
The hug lasted an incredibly long moment,
And I sank down on the couch in alarm.

It was a shock for her to embrace me like that.
The closest ever was a blip in time.
She held me twelve years ago
After reading a poem of mine.

It was now that I told her my true feelings.
The love I’d felt towards her all along.
The sadness and bitter grief I’d felt
After I forgot her voice—a song.

I told her how sorry I was,
Not to have told her before.
To let her go on thinking she’d done something wrong
Had shattered her right to the core.

She held me once more in her arms.
Once again, a child was I,
Running to my confidant
With no where else to cry.

A sob shook  my chest,
And I pulled out of her embrace.
I stared into her eyes,
And read the expression on her face.

The look in her eyes,
Said nothing more
Than perhaps this is the moment
She, too, was waiting for.

Her hand touched my head,
And eased it back on her shoulder.
My heart was close to hers.
It felt like last time, only we were older.

We decided to meet in one week.
Next Saturday.
I hugged her once more,
Said “I love you” and bid her good day.

I smiled to myself,
As she drove away.
After today’s talk,
There was not a lot left to say.

My feelings were exposed.
Was this what I wanted?
With these tales of truth and lies,
Were all my dreams being haunted.

We planned to meet at her place.
I expected to be there by five.
Earlier I got directions,
and it wasn’t that long a drive.

Again the week flew by
bringing with it the memories
of the time before last I saw her,
and as I walked away, hearing her pleas.

Down her road I drove,
Carrying with me a single care:
If she even wanted to see me again,
Or whether she wanted me there.

I walked up to her door,
And knocked hesitantly.
A young girl answered the door,
And I asked for the woman who was waiting for me.

“Come in, come in.”
She said with tears in her eyes.
Something was wrong.
My friend’s daughter never cries.

“We knew you were visiting today,
And we didn’t know what to say,
But Mother was killed in an accident,
On her way home yesterday.”

How do you tell a person
Something so devastating?
She would have never known how I felt,
If I’d just kept on waiting.

But now she knows,
 Even though she’s dead, and I‘ll live.
Despite how hard it may seem,
You must always, always forgive.