Wednesday 9 August 2017

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. 


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