We were beginning, not needing

to understand.

We were younger than

the speed of the moon

across the sky,

holding in our hands

long days and longer nights

as if they were stones

shaped in and lifted

from a stream.

Life was this endless

summer heat, and everything

made us closer

as if inseparable:

an intertwined branch,

two leaves

never falling toward

a foreign ground,

shaking inside.

But standing in front of seasons,

something in the angle of light

has changed. Is age

this ship that takes us away

from each other, makes memory

too deep an ocean?

I won’t stand at the deck

and look for you,

but I will want to.

I won’t dive into the blue

and hold my breath,

for what I will find there

will be transformed, adapted

to darkness and alone.

But still the early day,

and still remembering.

There we still are.

In each paired couplet

of wings—two clouds

interfaced, the coming

together of ideas

on a page—I will not forget

to be young is to be whole.

Writer/musician Alan Semerdjian‘s poems and essays have appeared in several print and online publications and anthologies including CHAIN, The Lyric Review, Adbusters, Arson, Ararat, and DIAGRAM. He released a chapbook of poems called An Improvised Device (Lock n Load Press) in 2005. His songs have appeared in television and film and charted on CMJ. Alan has performed and read all over North America. He currently teaches at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, NY.