it had been eleven years since i'd last seen her.

i almost didnt recognize her, but then

she spoke my name in a way i had 

never heard it pass through her lips,

and it all came flooding out through my eyelids. 

how do you tell a person that you literally

owe your life to her? there just arent words for that...

and i'm supposed to be a poet, 

i never not have words for my emotions.

she was a special one. i dont go throwing

that word around unless im referring to myself

as an excuse to explain my quirkiness

without going into detail, but my god was she special.

i would go through it an infinity times over 

if it meant i got to sit in that time out chair, 

lips pursed and arms folded as she scolded me

for trying to punch a classmate 

who cut in front of me in the lunch line.

at the tender age of six i was a fighter,

and she was the tape that wrapped around 

my knuckles to stop them from bleeding.