I met my Younger Self for Coffee Today

-Freddie Uriostegui

I met my younger self for coffee today.

He was 30 minutes early,

I was five minutes late.

He was wearing a nice button up with his favorite pants.

I was wearing the first T-shirt and pair of jeans I found.

He ordered a hot chocolate,

I ordered a caramel mocha.

He doesn’t drink caffeine,

I need it to get through the day.

I guess we never lost our sweet tooth.

I didn’t have the strength to tell him the truth.

Warn him about the things that will break him apart.

Warn him about all the jabs to his heart,

Because I looked at his eyes and they were still full of light.

He asked me do I still write?

I smiled and said I try when I have time,

That made him happy.

He told me about the song he’s working on,

The new guitar pattern he learned,

He was still full of passion.

It made me wonder where it all went.

He asked me about our family,

I didn’t know how to explain, so I said they’re fine,

But he should cherish his time.

I asked him about school,

He loves learning, being surrounded by friends and still plays sports.

What I wouldn’t give to have those days back.

I hope he doesn’t hate the man I’ve become,

Because every day I try to be one, he’d be proud of.

He asked me about our dream college,

I told him we didn’t get in, but it worked out for the best.

I asked him if he was still excited about engineering,

He was ecstatic to hear about how close we were to our degree.

He asked about love,

I said it’s a work in progress,

Knowing that I need to learn how to love us.

I hope that we meet again for coffee soon!