Never been this hot, never rained so much, so
hard, never been this cold, never shoveled this
much,  never seen so many mosquitoes, never hit
so many runs, never had so many drop-out, never
sold so many slushees, tacos, hot dogs, ice cream
bars, never seen so many overweight, underweight;
never tried so hard, worked so hard, missed so many
days, never ate so much, never had so much fun,
so many disappointments, so many mistakes.
Never wore it, never had an occasion to go,
never washed it again, never seen so much mold,
rotting, growth, so many cavities, so many tumors,
so much potential. Never loved, hated, envied, wanted,
wished, so much, so much. Never had one of my own.
Never finished it, never quite made it, never made it
back there, never saw her again. Never felt so tired.
Never want to go there, see you, feel that way, never,
never saw so many bodies, never felt so hungry,
never been so afraid, never saw so much blood,
never forgot. Never want to forget. Never did.

*

Rebecca Morgan Frank is the author of the poetry collection Little Murders Everywhere (Salmon, 2012), a finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and her poems have appeared in Guernica, The Missouri Review, Ploughshares, Crazyhorse, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder and editor-in-chief  of the online magazine Memorious and an assistant professor at the University of Southern Mississippi.