When We Were

by Diana Elliot Graham

Unable to escape into sleep the way normal people do, books have been a comfort, the security blanket, therapy I refused to go to. They ask questions but don’t require answers. They make me think but expect nothing in return. And when I wake up in the middle of the night, they are companions that never complain, either keeping me company as I lay awake or lulling me back into a temporary state of rest.

The notes I leave written in the margins are my exchange, a way I can return to the pages that have given me so much of themselves.

“I won’t need to keep score to know if I’ve won, because if I walk away from this table knowing you more than I do now, it won’t matter how many points I have.”

She was enchanted, I was enchanted.

“Sure, everyone wants to be Uptown Girl, but Vienna? Vienna is beautiful in a way that makes you think about your life.”

He handed me a red pen, to distinguish from the blue markings he already left,

Here’s to honor. To having honor, to getting on her, and if you can’t come in her, come on her.”

I’m filled with so much self-doubt while he looks at me dripping with self-assurance.

Red-Lips-No-Kiss