childhood

everything in me and around me was fine

everyone else was always the problem.

I remember being labeled

fat

as kids pinched

what shouldn’t have been

an inch

and I lied

when I said I couldn’t.

I remember my almost kiss

behind the tree

we weren’t allowed to go behind

tracing the roots

with our shoes

even then

I felt the urge to climb higher.

I remember

when the accident took everything from you

except your name

and I cried

because no one else

would ever call me Steve

or draw shitty cars with me

in shop class

or laugh as I cut crooked

pieces of wood.

I remember the grass stains

on my softball uniform

on my field hockey uniform

on my new jeans

and the fresh cut grass

as I tried not to pass out

while running the mile in gym.

I remember.

I remember

because my memory has never faded

it’s the one thing

that has remained the same.