The Neighborhood Girl Poem by JDC LeDrew

I did not cry for you when I was sixteen.
It was all about me.
It was cold that morning at the bus stop.
Three of us stood there waiting;
A brother, sister and a friend.

I still keep the vision of you in my mind,
Flying down the street at top speed.
I wish to remember you that way,
Happy and free.
Delighted with the promise of the day,
In control of your destiny.

Then the school bus carrying the retards
Made a left turn
And hit you.

Diane held her face in her hands
And covered her eyes.
Steady Harry, ran the fifty feet back home
To call the ambulance.
And the neighborhood boy you didn’t know
Knelt beside you on the street.

The school bus driver
Stepped out of the van and fainted.
The, “Special children” pressed their mouths
Against the windows and made faces.
And you and I were left alone.

I knew I shouldn’t move you.
I knew I shouldn’t touch you,
But somehow I felt your spirit take wing.
Then breaking all the rules of medical science,
I took you in my arms. I’m so very glad I did.
The best part of me held you there
And through these seven years.

I wore white pants that day,
But didn’t notice the blood on them;
When the police arrived,
When the ambulance screamed,
When the school bus came.
God only knows why
I climbed aboard it.

When I appeared at school,
The vice principal escorted me to the office.
The secretary took a look and said,
“I think we should call your dad.”
My father, “The principal” left school
To come and pick me up.
I felt sorry he was inconvenienced.
Maybe it wasn’t all about me.

He took me home and suggested
That I take a shower,
Wash the blood from my hands
And change my pants.
My father asked, “Maybe you’d like to say home today? ”
“No, ” I replied,
“There are my classes and football practice,
Important stuff.”
I lied.
Back to school I went.

I didn’t talk about it with the other kids.
I didn’t want to talk about it with my parents,
But I could not help but think of you,
Beautiful neighborhood girl
I didn’t know.

Too much! Too much!
I put it in a corner of my mind and locked it up!
I told myself I would take it out someday
And examine it. Make sense of it.
Seven years later, I find myself
Sitting here tonight.

Thinking of your parents
And the prom you never attended.
The poem you never wrote.
The lines in a play you never spoke,
So boldly on the stage.
The harvest moon you never saw
That took your breath away.
The lover that never swore to you,
He’d never met someone so fine.
The daughter you never bore.
The wrinkles you never cursed.
Your grandchildren in your arms;
Old age…
All joys and sorrows.
All sweet and wonderful
Gifts of life!

Seven years have come and gone
Since I watched you
Flying down the hill on your bike-
The day our lives entwined.
Sweet life will never be, just about me.

I did not cry for you when I was sixteen,
Neighborhood girl I’ve come to know.
But now that I am twenty-three,
Let’s weep together
And set our sorrow free.
Mine for you,
And yours for me.