And these complements
I wonder if you have already said
the same thing before.

I wonder who those people were.
I wonder how many times you have given them.
I wonder if they believed you.
I wonder how they have responded.
And I wonder how you have reacted.

I wonder what could have been.

You said
how those words have traveled
from person
to person
to person
is no longer relevant

as they pertain to me now
and to us.

But I think it is important,
the history and composition of those words.
The old names attached to them,
and the old songs
and the old memories
of the person long gone.

And how they have been passed,
received,
given away,
taken back,
and given again.

Most of the time,
these thoughts keep me awake at night.