Youth

By: Anna Schmeer

i never met her
but i always knew she was there
my dad talked about her so fondly
“we used to drive
for hours listening to old cassette tapes
singing along
not knowing where we were going
but not caring”
sometimes
one of the songs they used to sing
would come on the radio
my dad would turn it up
and sing along
i could almost see his eyes
flicker with the memory of his youth
driving with his mom
some old song that i wouldn’t know
playing through a tinny radio
the windows down
and the sky is blue
just my dad
and my grandmother
that i never knew