Someone asked if I know you today

Which was odd

I said no

I only once knew you

It’s like that first time you smoke a cigarette with your friends-
a little gross, but you feel so cool.

Or the first time you flash your
I.D. at the bar,
not knowing what to order, but loving the freedom to choose.

When you’re gripping the steering wheel so tight your knuckles turn white,
finally feeling tires touch concrete that isn’t a parking lot.

Decorating that ****** apartment,
paying the first month’s rent-
broke, yet so **** proud.

Holding your diploma in
trembling hands,
a piece of paper most people get,
but this one has your name on it.

That first day everything clicks at work,
a shift so smooth it’s forgotten on the rough days that follow.

That first kiss under the stars,
dopamine shockwaves flooding
every nerve-
you’ll stay up for days on the memory.

Even the devastating realization
that nothing lasts forever,
laying in bed as rain beats
against your window,
music reverberating through a hollow chest.

an iridescent
dragonfly hovers nearby
sparkling in sunlight

Be careful with your words.
Words are powerful.
We cannot reclaim them once they are spoken.
Words spoken take only a few moments to speak,
but they can destroy for a lifetime.

-Rhia Clay

We loved like fire,
fast and bright—
no map,
just heartbeats
and Friday night.

You said forever.
I almost believed.
Then summer ended—
and so did we.