Our First Year (For Maddy)

Emma Schuster

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Giggling,/Shoes slide through slush,/Toes turning inwards./I am wet,/Having already fallen/Checking directions,/Tipping sideways/Into soggy snowbanks.

We are laughably lost./Thick snowflakes/– uphill and under streetlamps –/Make random roads look familiar/Until we are already halfway down them.

One day I will miss/Squinting for street signs,/Counting green traffic lights,/Feeling safe in the dark.

I will miss/Our room, photos, posters./I will miss/PJs, late night chats, toe-to-toe single beds;/So much of our life together./But in this slushy moment,/It has barely been lived yet.