Only in a Memory

Text

How do you rebuild a relationship

To someone who has forgotten its entirety

Where the wires of your mind became jumbled

And replaced our memories with its pain


Should I start with my name

That crumbles like broken clay

When it crosses my mind

Because it was yours, too


Do I begin with November

When it felt like bone cracking in my chest

As I sobbed alone in the choir room

After your first attempt


Would it have made a difference

If I dedicated my hours to

Skipping school to be with you

In the hospital room


My silent promise

Backed with sixteen-year-old determination

Vowed to show that you are loved

That life is worth living


How do I attempt to conjure up

Our hour-long walks at the island

With you pulling my hand to

Climb the gnarled driftwood


Could I even muster up the words

To tell you that the guitar in my corner

Reminds me of how your hands tentatively

Moved across the same glossy exterior


Should I show you the videos of us

Sick with dizziness at midnight

As we spun endlessly

On a long forgotten merry-go-round


I have scoured the depths of language

But watch the words petrify in amber

As I perpetually fall short of

Reviving who we once were


Sam Ludlow (she/her)