Allie And Me Poem by Tom Courtney

And that was Saturday when Allie came home
from college and she was so pretty
and she had her hair curled and long
and everyone couldn’t stop exclaiming
how beautiful she was
and how she was once just a little girl like me
and how I’d grow up to be
like Allie some day

And we were all excited and rushing around
to take care of this and that and
Momma barely had time to talk to me
but that was ok because I’m old enough now
to know how things are
and I’m not jealous of Allie
because I love her too much
and she loves me

She sent me letters from college
and told me things about her classes
and the college buildings
her teachers and the boys

And I’m going to go to college just like Allie
so I was just kind of watching everything

And they would all poke me or hug me
like older folks do
and look for my freckles
and even uncle ray he’s my favorite
picked me up and carried me around
which I like
because I don’t have to act like a big girl
all the time

Like some of my friends
some of them try to act that way all the time
and I can see that actually they
don’t know what they’re doing

It’s obvious that kids my age don’t know everything
but you can see how everybody
is so caught up in themselves

And uncle ray says that I know more
than most people my age
and that means that I’m going to be
somebody important someday