For Adele; A Song Hello, It's Me. Poem by David McLansky

Hello, it's me
Someone from your distant past
Someone you once loved
But it didn't last
Gee, how time flows by so slowly and so fast.

We sat togther in a City College Poetry class
Shyly our hands met in a heated grasp
We went for a walk along the winding path
That ran around the College yellowed Campus grass.
I remember you said your major was Math
How happy we were from the moment our hands clasped
I kissed your lips so hard our lips felt mashed;
We drank the wine and boldy glasses smashed

I helped you move out when your parents clashed
Over your 'life style' which they called trash;
We lived together, we were desperate poor, always out of cash
And yet, we were full of hope then, so brave then, so loud, so brash;


I saw you at a party, head bent, smoking hash;
I wrote you an angry note, scolding words meant to lash;
You didn't come home that night though you were smashed
Next day entering English class, we hardly looked at each other as we passed
The bell rang, then you disappeared in a flash;

You never said goodbye, just left some cash,
I heard you married but it didn't last
Are you as haunted as I am by the past? .