CJ,

I will miss the taste
of your grape sugar and
the soft touch of your fingers
brushing over my skin
to adjust the camera
as the middle-aged uber driver
watches us vlogging “NY with Claire”
with a frown on his face
in the rearview mirror
while the city blurs
into a van Gogh painting
outside of the window and
the starry, starry night
falls upon higher grounds
which eventually will lay the stars
at our feet and we will be bigger
than the entire state of New York
to the point where
when you reach for my hand
the streets will hold their ground
against a northerly wind
but before soon you will be gone and
the likely chances that we will meet again
will be a million to one and until then
I will wait until I can steal your gum again and
draw inside the wrapper
a little doodle of the two of us
but then I will scrunch it up and
throw it out behind your back
because it reminds me too much
of a love I once had
because I want to have
a unique space in my heart for you and
not for you to fill the unique space
that someone else once left behind
so I will hold tight to the polaroid
until the day fate brings up the idea
that we should meet again
under the lights of the Empire State
or the stairs in front of the Met
and if we met again today
I would have taken you out
on a proper date
even though you probably would have
preferred to drag me to
your brother’s friend’s sister’s gallery
and suggest that we
make out in the bathroom
and I would have had to politely decline
because my lips would be chapped
from the cold
but however, I would gladly
take up the offer to hang out with you
and occasionally share some kisses
even though that would leave my lips
swollen when we leave
but how fun it would be
to explore the streets of New York
with you again.
Plus, I owe you one pack of fruit gum,
six hugs, and exactly one proper date.

All Love,

SL