That Time I Didn't Cry

Life is colorful.

I’m not saying it’s good—how would I know.

But there are colors.

The deep blood red

And the faded pinks and blue of old houses out the window

The grey of London and rain and November

Oranges and yellows of late summer in my mind’s eye.

When I was sixteen

I fell in love with a street musician

Who I only saw out of the corner of my eye

For two minutes

Walking

In upstate New York somewhere unmemorable.

He was singing a Beatles song, and playing an

Aging tan guitar.

From time to time I think of him

And remember

That first feeling

I’d never felt before

The free falling, the color all around me-

That’s the first time I can remember really feeling

All the colors of life.

I was sadder than I’d ever been before.

And happier.

And it was blue and red and grey.

And I didn’t cry, because I was standing on a street

Watching the older people walk by

Unaware.