The Lop Side

Things were better when I was 16

and my stomach churned under the spotlight in a gymnasium

nights I knew then I would remember now

even though I couldn't quite see here

My heart is strong with all it could ever be for you

it would never be stronger than today

except that night in the gymnasium

with artificial romanticism and an irreverence in the face of adulthood

and everything being what it was cracked up to be

I put out the white flag long ago

when I agreed to be your friend

and you still inspired a love for asymmetry

and you still made me weak in the knees

and all the while we were better off

with thousands of miles between us

so they could never call us puppies

which is what they would have done

We were just better that way

because we could always look fondly on 1997

which we knew then

at the foot of this bed