In a past time, we had those summer nights together
we would spend hours
Just you and me
Laughing and telling stories
Your eyes never left mine
Darting back and forth across my face
You smiled at me
For you knew
My eyes told a story
A story of those three words
Three words I’ll never say to anyone else
You looked so beautiful
Under the colors of red and orange
An aura would fall to your side
Giving light to the rising darkness around us
You never wanted to leave my side
For I didn’t know then
Just how precious our time would be
Your father didn’t want me in your life
I was thought of as a bad influence
Caught up in a lie, I started to believe it
truth was, he thought I was the best thing that happened to you
Though you were his little girl
And you were getting sick
He just didn’t want to see your heart break in the end
I went to our rock wall
But you weren’t there
So I made the journey to find you
Walking the pathway to your house
Your father was on his way out
I asked him where you were
All he said was that I needed to get in the car
There was something I needed to do
Something I needed to see
When he parked outside of a hospital
I looked to him
For I was confused
There he told me the story
The story of his little girl
He told me why she never told me
Not because she didn’t care enough
But for my own protection
She didn’t want me to get hurt
He also wanted to thank me
For when times got tough
I was always there to cheer her up
He wanted me to see her
For it may be my last time
He stayed in the car
When I got out of the car
And made that walk
I didn’t know what to expect
I looked back towards her father
The salt of his soul was trickling down his face
faith is what he was losing
This was going to be her last night
And he wanted me to spend it with her
I opened the door to your room
You looked so fragile
You were happy to see me
We talked until you fell asleep
I stayed through the night
I was right by your side, holding your hand
When morning hit
you never woke up
The nurses and doctors said you passed during the night
I visit your grave everyday
fresh flowers are always in my hand
I tell you how my day went
And I just hope your listening from above
I was never able to move on from you
You were my first love
And you will be my last
You have changed me for the better
And I hope I was able to make you smile and laugh everyday
Justin Burrill 