A Rememberance Poem by Sarai Girma

There are times when I get to thinking
About a boy I used to know,
Back when things really mattered.
And life was truly ours. And
Oh! Did we live…
But those were better days—
Now, we reflect warmly on
Those sunny days way back when
Before we sold our souls, back
When faith was still commonplace, back
When we wanted it all but were content
With nothing.
Before dreams went out of style. Back,
When life was really, truly ours.
I get to thinking about the boy
I used to know… I hear he became
Everything he ever dreamt of. But
He has forgotten himself. Back
Then, we would be up all night, speaking in
Hushed whispers of all we planned to do.
We wanted to change the world,
He and I.
We wanted to see it all. We thought
We knew it all.
I wonder if he remembers.
Hah, he must think me foolish.
‘Silly old woman, ’ he must say, ‘who
Has all these dreams. She thinks
She knows, ’ he probably says, ‘how
To fix the world.
How to make believers of us all.
She always thought she could make it
Better.
She always was like that.’
He always was like that.
I wonder what sort of man came
Of the boy I used to know.
I wonder if he remembers.
I wonder these things as
My old mind wanders. And I think, oh!
How easily we forget
What once defined us.