For Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel

I wonder what it’s like to fall in love at 16.

I wonder if it really always ends with “don’t”s or “no, please”

Or if there’s ever a heartfelt “thank you” like I sometimes like to imagine there is.

I wonder how it feels to know you’ll never need another ride

And clutch that plastic rectangle inside

Your palm like it’s your ticket to ultimate solitude, or freedom, or paradise.

Tell me, what’s it like

To know next year you start a new life?

Is failure really as daunting as they claim?

Or is there a sort of bewitched confidence you suddenly gain

When you step through the threshold and hear the door lock behind you?

I’m so curious how you decide which parts of you to give

And which parts to keep

Yes, I wonder what it’s like to know you’re only beginning to live at age 16.

When we meet again, won’t you tell me how it feels?

Because I don’t think I’ll get to see.