on bees

my best friend from
elementary school was named amy,
spelled differently from my
sister aimee’s name.
i don’t remember much of
what she liked like, aside from the
coke bottle lensed glasses. we spent
more time at her house than
at mine. she was an only child.
when we played there, and went
from one room to another,
we had to turn all the lights off
as we’d go, which i found strange.
her father was laid off, taking
odd jobs as he looked for work.
i remember him being home during
the day and showing us his
typewriter once. we learned about
correction ribbons and white out
for when you made mistakes.
he always had a stick of gum
for us, juicy fruit or big red from
a pack of 5, something we