Throwing Away

On the floor of my closet,
tucked under my red and blue pajamas
I found little pieces of paper
Cut out of my old math notebook
while I was throwing away
Old pajamas.

In Sherin's 6th grade scrawly handwriting
And my purple Clueless pen
She'd always loved,
"Even if you get sent to Mrs. Amal's office,
I'll go with you and back you up."

On my bed with the yellow flowers
on the sheets, is my cell phone.
With Sherin's number,
Not recently dialed
Because we never have time
Anymore.