Samantha

her name wasn't Samantha
and it wasn't Amanda
or Sara
or Brenda
or Jill
or Judy
but she did have a name

a beautiful name
and her face was beautiful
too

i wrote her poems at night
about how beautiful she was
but i never gave her those poems
and i never said a beautiful word to her

instead i cat-called her in the hallways
made lewd innuendos to her
to get a laugh
from the other
boys

the biggest laugh was when i went up to her
as she stood at her locker
and pinched her ass

she turned around and slapped me
and the other boys laughed so hard
and i laughed too

it hurt me inside
but i laughed because
it seemed like the right thing to do

manly
macho
whatever

i never won her heart
but i won some laughs

now
i could say
it was sixth grade
boys will be boys
all in good fun
whatever

but it wasn't fun for her