Twenty-Year Crush

Pre-teen crush she hid so well, watching him

from the metal stands and once in her
front yard as he played catch with
her little brother. Alone, she wrote his name
over and over with painstaking care, shy and
clueless that he'd ever notice her
or even know her name. His crush on her would have
surprised, been daunting at the moment.
Two decades later, though, with lots of miles on both,
they reunited for the day, and all the years
washed out to sea, a little bit with every wave.
Two kids again, sun-kissed and playing in the surf,
their own respective children asking inwardly what all
the grinning was about. And whether destiny
had worked to bring them there or not,
the day felt right, as did, in time, the night.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2014