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do you remember listening to blur
in your sister’s car
with my head on your lap
and a grocery bag full
of mouse traps and cleaner
at our feet?

i remember you crying so hard
you couldn’t speak
and the way your back
felt under my hand
a little mountain
fighting off earthquakes

i remember when you told
your father you were leaving
home for a school in another state
and your mother didn’t seem
to hear or comprehend you
i just stood still

in the winter of last year
i did my best not to yell
and you did your best not
to yell

tomorrow