Certainly, I wasn't prying!
My discovery of this small piece of your past was
a part of my regular house cleaning.
The books on the bookshelf had to be culled
by the "not read - not wanted" test.
The first two selected for the recycle bin
were easy.
They were from my morbid college days.
I sure wouldn't read them again.
The book that contained your secret life
was from your 8th grade Honors English class.
Probably assigned as you were preparing for
your autobiography writing requirement.
The book hadn't been touched for years.
I leafed through it and came across
a love note to you when you were
in the eighth grade.
As I read the note tears came to my eyes
and years went in a rapid rewind.
I could see and hear you
as if the time was now.
My adolescent son was loved by someone
besides his family.
Who was the mysterious one who loved you?
Years ago I dared not ask about
your personal life.
That would have been an invasion of your privacy.
What I knew, you told me.
But now, I have a hundred questions.
I wonder what she knew of you to love.
Was it for the same things that I loved in you?
Did she enjoy your wit?
Or was it your confidence and good cheer.
Did she find you handsome and elegant
in demeanor.
And what of you?
Did you love her?
Was she like me?
Where is she now?
What happened to the relationship?
That note provided me a window to view you
as someone else did.
and now years latr as I watch you step across
the stage of life
I have a need to capture as much of
you as I can for my memory file.
In that note I saw a part of you
that I didn't know.
Since it is too long ago to be prying,
tell me of the love you knew.