- You never told me that there was a time when you loved him, blemishes and all.
- You never told me that I was one of the first, and the one you would always remember.
- You never told me that it hurt you to think he might have other children.
- You never told me that you were hoping this time he wouldn’t come back.
- You never told me that I was any good at it, even though you told her I was.
- You never told me that rescue work was more discouraging than it was fulfilling.
- You never told me that you pray to wake up having forgotten what’s wrong with you.
- You never told me that you were pleasantly surprised when we finally met in person.
- You never told me that it made you laugh to sing that song for me.
- You never told me that you wonder if everyone is as unhappy as you are.
- You never told me that beyond every hill there is another, larger hill.
- You never told me that all you needed was to hear it from his own mouth.
- You never told me that you thought you had the world figured out before I came along.
- You never told me that I remind you of him, just enough that it hurts.
- You never told me that you wished I would stop looking over your shoulder.
- You never told me that I should not take it all so seriously.
- You never told me that you would have left if I had ever asked you to.
- You never told me that he knew all about it and didn’t mind.
- You never told me that you were ashamed I had to see you that way.
- You never told me that she is the only thing that keeps you smiling.
- You never told me that a time would come when none of what we said would matter.
- You never told me that you read what I wrote, but decided to ignore it.
- You never told me that he made you laugh almost as much as I did.
- You never told me that she was wrong more often than she was right.
- You never told me that you resented me for leaving before you were ready to leave.
- You never told me that you would change everything if you thought it would help.
Note: The assignment was to begin a text with “You never told me that….” I made several false starts, didn’t like where any of them were headed, so I decided to make a game out of the exercise. I randomly selected a couple of dozen people I know—or have known at some time in my life—and tried to imagine something that they’d never told me.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is probably my fault. If you think you see yourself in one of these and it bothers you, let me know. If you think you see yourself and you like it, buy me flowers or something.
© 2008 Edward F. Gumnick
I love how you always bend the exercise to your will! Can’t think of something? Just alter the assignment parameters. The best thing about it though is how much it doesn’t matter, because whatever effort you ultimately make, it is always interesting to read.
This was an interesting list of unrelated statements that I enjoyed reading. Right up until I realized you were imagining your friends saying these lines – now I’m going crazy trying to figure out who is saying what!
P.s. fix this one: “to hear it in from his own mouth.” Fixed! Thanks. —efg
Hey Ed you just wrote another poem. It made me wonder how many thing people in my life have never told me. You always make me think.