Do you remember purple stripe smearing
Tears that crinkled as they bled the colors
Of your stupid ninja turtle sheets
Goodbyes to match the weather
Outside the trees bent to fate’s command
Our hearts perfect without pockmarks
Unaware of the months to come
The lonely tides that ripped us out to a sea
Of frothy closing time drinks
The pretty shore
Taunts us
With what we used to be
Summer scares me
a simple secret
that season is so sad with no one to hold
Smile reminds me of chalk stained hands
lemonade stands
and other uncomplicated things
But I use the wrong adjectives
and I skirt tentatively around the truth
Mind full of buried memories
that will never bloom
Dormant
pregnant with the fear of discovery,
deep in the soil that is our past
The wind makes an orchestra out of the trees
bow differently now
without the family tire-swing
Gravel paces
not welcome in my thoughts. no.
I seal this wet lying mouth
words scratch the back of these teeth
Summer eats me alive, devours me whole
,spits me back out as the leaves begin to change
and the air smells of bonfires and the promise of new
Summer leaves me at the foot of the driveway
with a box of promises and a grave peck on the lips
Returns to find me changed in ways I could never explain
