i remember

i have tried to forget, 
believe me i have.
i have tried to erase you
from my mind, but every
time i look at you, the
memories come flooding back.

i remember the dewy grass
against my soft feet, the smell
of cinnamon in your hair.
i remember pastel paints and 
red legos scattered across
your bed.

i remember singing in 
the rain, the distant sound
of thunder making us
shriek and run back
to your porch.

i remember jumping off the 
swings, laughing as we landed,
splattering our skin with mud.
i remember the summer nights
when we would run around
the block, screaming as we
ran from imaginary monsters.

i remember the mornings when
we would take walks through the
misty woods, returning later to find
them dark and mysterious.

i remember the evenings when 
we didn't pay attention to the time and
get lost on the paths behind
your house.

i remember the bike rides we took
as the sun was setting, i remember 
making up games to play while
we sat through boring dinner parties,
i remember making hot chocolate in the winter
and drinking lemonade that tasted like candy
in the summertime.

i remember when we started getting 
older, when we tried to ignore
how much we had changed. 

i remember when it all got
scary, when the imaginary
monsters we were running from
weren't so imaginary
anymore.

i remember hot tears and
stained mascara.

i remember when i got nervous,
when i was too scared, too young,
and you weren't.

i remember how you went on 
without me.

i remember calling your
name as i fell.

i remember hitting the ground, 
blood springing from my skin.

i remember how you weren't there
to catch me.