That Time You Came to Visit

(What I Wish I’d Said)*

The author with her sister, circa 1967. Photo credit: my own.

That time you came to visit and

we walked the streets of Boston

holding hands,

me in my new

drop-waist denim blue dress

(one of the few

pieces of clothing I pine for

still).

At Newbury Street,

we meandered in and out of all my

favorite shops

me, so happy to share my

stomping grounds,

you, with more money because you’d

gotten a

Broadway show.

The author’s sons more than two decades later, on Newbury Street in Boston. photo credit: my own

I can’t recall now the name of the

store with the bracelet,

you know the one,

that big bejeweled bangle we bought for

mom,

its faux ruby stones glistening

from a sea of

pastel ones