Aisle A-1

You were stocking the pasta, I was nervously watching you work.

Handsome, nineteen, and hard at work. Humming a tune.

On the other hand, I'm shy, fourteen, and blushing over a sales clerk.

I needed to act fast, my family would be leaving soon.

Rushing to the register, you're already there.

Professional and friendly with a brilliant smile,

I'm stammering, shaking, emotionally bare.

I spoke first, breaking the silence after a while.

Softly I whisper a confession, although forbidden.

Your eyes lit up like the sun as you accepted.

It was our secret, barely hidden.

For it was in an Aldi grocery store that we first connected.

This was my first love story, with many to come

I wish it had ended better; turns out he was scum.