driving home from a stressful day of work last night, <br />I began thinking <br />about the absolute worst I ever felt my entire life. <br /> <br />it was her birthday, <br />just turning 18. <br />and she really was a sweet girl. <br />I drove her home <br />popped the trunk and pulled out her present: <br />it was my guitar (about $300 nicer than her p.o.s, and she could <br />play it much better than me) . <br /> <br />well, I had hand-sanded the finish right off the back of the guitar, <br />and with one of those <br />hot wood engravers, I burned a poem into the body. <br />then, I refinished the guitar, <br />forever crystallizing the poem on the back. <br />like a flower eternalized in amber. it took about <br />three days (including writing the poem) <br /> <br />and she looked at me- <br />her eyes a poem forever burned into my brain- <br />and said i love you. <br />of course, by that, she meant do you love me? <br />and to make a long story short(er) , <br />I never really spoke to her again. <br /> <br />I was literally sick to my stomach that night. <br />enough sadness to fuel a cemetery. <br /> <br />that must have been a heart-uprooting feeling, for her. <br />abhorrent, detestable. <br />I remember she cried <br />I remember wanting to beat the unholy shit out of me. <br /> <br />I told myself, dammit, Jack, she’s going away to college <br />you can’t do the long distance thing! <br />but those were really just the stupid excuses <br />of a scared boy who didn’t want to be tied down at 20. <br /> <br />and, driving home last night, <br />my heart started working for the first time in months, <br />and I turned off the radio <br />and <br />drove home in silence. <br /> <br /> <br />(if you ever read this, Adriana, and if it’s any consolation, <br />I loved you, too and I’m sorry) <br /> <br />Happy Valentine’s Day<br /><br />Jackson Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-burned-a-poem-into-the-body/
