You asked me to tell you
About myself
I said
I like the color yellow
What about you?

You said you were looking
For a friend
I said
I was too
We toasted our discovery
With cervezas
At the taqueria

We cooked pancakes
With bananas
And chocolate chips
And read each other children's stories
Late at night

I don't remember if
We did more homework
Or drank more coffee
By ourselves
Or with our friends
Sheltered from the
Rose City rain
Under the eaves of
La Patisserie

Summer nights
Studded with stars
Spent walking by the river
Monday nights
The pool was free after 10pm
And so were we

Come fall
I helped you shop
For your new textbooks
And spent a week
In line
At the cashier
You were buying a new life
I was buying time

I almost loved you then
But I knew better
You knew better than I
That I was but a page in your
Scrapbook

The lobby of my life is
Quiet now
The desk clerk has
Fallen asleep
And I sit by the window
Writing poems
Remembering the friend
That came in from the rain one day
Warmed herself by the fire
And then went
Out again
Through the revolving door