Remember the days in middle school
when we'd take a notebook (exactly like
the ones I now fill with poetry)
and write back and forth in it,
trading off between passing periods
and pouring out our hearts?
That was only a year or two ago,
but now you feel so far away
that I don't even remember if
I made you up in my head.

Remember all the times eighth grade
when we'd go to each other's houses
and make monkey bread
just to finish off the last bite an hour later?
I haven't baked anything with a friend
since the last time we did that.

Remember how we signed off
every time we wrote in that little notebook,
with a drawing of a whale
and our acronym that stood for
Love You To Pluto And Back?
To this day whales are still my favorite
and just the thought of the acronym
makes me smile.

Remember the Painted Penguin
and how we were the oldest girls in the store
but we didn't even mind
because it was so much fun
to be doing silly things together?
I still have all the little ceramic statues
that we painted over with shaky hands.

Remember the boy I told you about,
the one who gave me my first kiss
and was the only one who said he loved me
and got the same response back from me?
We broke up last June,
but a week ago exactly
he told me he still loved me like he used to,
and he still got the same response back from me.

Remember all the times
that I messed up
and you were angry enough
to let all your hurt out on me,
and I deserved it?
My best friend now
talks exactly the same way you do
when she's upset with me
and I deserve it.

Remember the years when
we never would have hesitated
to call each other the best of friends?
I still love you just as much,
but you've stopped returning texts
and I haven't seen you at all
in the past two years.
And I've really tried to tell you
that I miss you more than anything,
but it absolutely terrifies me
that I don't think you feel the same.