I knew I liked you…

  When I told you I peeved off the band director scaffolding 

and you were jealous

  I knew I liked you

  When I saw you at the dance

you were so beautiful I thought I was gonna cry

  When you 

played with my hair using a paint roller

and kicked me in the Meijer and told me to steal a scarf

and you played this-little-piggy with my hand

and pulled “the move” on me in the back of your brother’s truck

  When you

spilled all the iodized salt in Culver’s 

and threw your shoe at me 

and gave me cold hot chocolate

and let me compliment your shiny nails

and ate a rock to impress me 

and taught me to combine soy sauce and ramen

and picked out the best movies

and listened to my sister’s stories at the dinner table

and laughed when i accidentally caught a mouthful of your red hair

  And when we

ate pickles and made dream catchers and rings

out of copper wire

and listened to WDCB Chicago

  And when you

sang along to Under The Sea

and knew all the words

and when you unbuckled to sit closer to me

  And especially…

…when I realized how long this poem is.