I’m sorry.
When you told me
to watch that very special episode of Growing Pains,
that you thought it would speak to me,
I took note
folded the note up,
and put it in my pocket,
at the same time
promptly putting it out of mind.

It has taken me
all of these months
and a cycle of seasons
to get back into those pants
and to find the note
so easily forgotten.
Understanding my hasty scribble
then getting in front of a streaming service
took even more time,
but at long last,
here I am
reviewing the fourth season
of Kirk Cameron’s greatest hit
and wondering just what it was
that I should be seeing.

Probably
had I done your bidding
just when you bid it
I could recall the conversation
that would inspire your desire
that I watch this – what?

Is that Julie?
Julie from down the block?
She was a regular on Growing Pains?
How did I not know about this
and what in God’s name
excuses you for keeping this from me
for so damned long?