Scout
I saw you in the mirror today
Just a glimpse, a flicker of who you were
And like a flash of light,
The moment came and went too soon
It was your nose, your smile, your teeth?—
staring back at me
as if you’d never left
But then I blinked and I recalled
where I stood
and where you laid
My eyes are blue
and yours were brown
The little differences feel
profound—yet
Our hair was blonde
Corkscrews grew from my head
and you’d sit me on the floor
and take a brush to my curls
We’d watch them frizz and fray
Your strands were silky smooth
so you could never understand
what it was like
to live with unruly locks
in an unruly life
Nothing was ever permanent?—
it was a lesson you ingrained in me
But when you did
I never thought you meant
that you would someday
slip away.
That my time with you
wasn’t permanent
I saw you in the mirror today
and all I have to say
is that days are getting easier
and things are getting messier
And I miss you more today than I did yesterday
but I’ve forgotten the sound of your laugh
and the feel of your arms around me
yet sometimes I see a glimpse of you
in me
and everything comes rushing back