I Hope You Remember: Poems on Loving, Longing, and Living

by Josie Balka

For anyone who has ever been referred to as “absentminded”— I know your mind was exactly where it needed to be at the time.

Wounds have no choice but to heal eventually

If I were never sad I wouldn’t think of you at all

The day I didn’t love you anymore Is a day I never thought would come And a day that has already passed

It’s only real once I tell my mom

There need to be more love stories about platonic friends Who found each other at just the right time

In order for someone to be the one They have to want you too It’s such a simple concept Though it never feels that way

It’s a shame to take this time for granted

If you are not the love of your own life What’s the point

in the same way that I’ll always feel the hurt in the spot on my wrist From when I fell off my bike when I was seven I will always feel the places in my heart that have been broken

The girl you wish you were has a girl she wishes she was And that girl has one of those, too You are unique in many ways, but this is not one of them

What’s meant to be will be And we weren’t, so we aren’t

There aren’t many things that last forever But missing people, it never ever ends

I can’t remember anyone I’ve ever seen at a public pool With such a memorable body, good or bad That I think about it ever again

it is one thing to want to be looked at And another to want to be known

Your reflexes get better with practice The more you are put through, the less you’ll put up with

Because if you were going to die this afternoon And it brought more beauty to the simplicity of the radio in the morning The smell of your coffee The warmth of the first sip The ability to tie your shoes The answering of phone calls The voices of loved ones Your small but extraordinary life Maybe you don’t need your life to end this afternoon To be able to see it that way