First Times

During this Pandemic

I have often found myself thinking

about the last time I got to

do something.

The last time I was at a

crowded bar.

The last time I was

able to hug a friend.

The last time I smiled

at someone, and they could see

my unmasked smile.

The last handshake.

The last kiss.

The last shared swig from

a bottle for the last Whiskey sip.  

Thinking about all those

last times got me wondering

about all my first times

for things. Those precious

first times by which all those

last times were measured.

I remember my first kiss on

Halloween when I was in 7^th

grade. The first time sitting with the

adults to play some poker.

The first time I felt the edge

of the satiny smoothness of

a girlfriend’s panties as we

stumbled through a first

make-out.

The first time I danced like

no one was watching.

The first big honest laugh I got from a

crowd. The first starlit night as a child.

The first nervous look into a lover’s

eyes.

Those last times for things

pale in comparison to all

those marvelous fist times.

So, maybe, it’s all the new first times

that I am really missing.