Will I Remember You

by Debra Kiva

There may come a day

I won't know you.

I will look at your pretty face

and wonder if you are

friend or foe.

It may start by

knowing your name

or not knowing it.

Your face may be

familiar like the

bank teller that you

bump into at Trader Joes -

Your eyes squint with the

pondering of,

“How do I know

you? “

Usually, one can find the connection

but not always.

And the rest of the day her face

comes into your mind and you wonder.

But, I may never recall your face.

I will pretend and present well.

At least at first until the ability is lost to me.

I may smile at you in my attempt

to show recognition.

But you'll know. It won't be

that smile you gleamed when we

sat at the Italian restaurant in

Malibu, when the young, handsome waiter gave me

a complimentary glass of Cabernet and winked.

That night I felt special

that I still had “it.”

No, instead, it will be that

tentative grin, fake but with effort.

And in the effort that you witness,

your heart will swell and break.

I may stroke your face

maybe with the hopes

that the touch will go through

my fingertips, rise into my

frontal lobe, translate the touch

with the memory of you and remind me

help me to know, to

remember

something

before it is

erased forever.

And to remember that many years ago,

you grew inside of me --

you whom I should never,

ever be able to forget.

* * * * *

Debra Kiva has been writing poetry as means to process challenging situations for over 25 years. She is co-director of Gold Country Threshold Choir which provides comfort and compassion through song to those on the threshold of life. She currently lives in the Sierra Foothills with her husband and black lab.