Page 6 - Contrast1991Spring

To Charlie
last seen in 1978

It was not brains that drew me to you
It was those eyes:
beyond the blue
of your jeans
or your favorite flannel shirt;
And that hair, which had no right being
so perfectly blonde

You were a first-grader's dream

No wonder
when Mrs. Clark's voice rasped over the record
every girl dashed
for a chance at you

I balked in gym classes
declined opportunities for playground recesses
in favor of the library

But I never lost you to another
at a square dance

I refined my curtsey before you
Swung with you as with no other
Sped through each Circle Left
eager to hold your hand again
At the Grand Promenade
I paraded you before jealous eyes
grasping your hands in flawless form

And one day
with our closing bow
J promised to love you forever

I wonder if you ever passed the first grade

-Angela Tremain

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