The Progression

Hide and seek
In grass taller than our heads
Take my hand in yours
Run so fast
Walk so stealthily
They can’t hear us
They can’t see us
Take my hand in yours
And I’ll hide with you
In grass taller than our heads

A red one for you
A green one for me
I’ll be green
You, red
Have you ever noticed
How smooth
How cold marble is
Against your fingertips
Toss the red
And I’ll toss the green
And kiss you again
With nervous lips
Colder than marble

Leather slides off my fingers
On hot moist days
Of summer
Toes sweating, curling up
Tongue at the corner of my mouth
The first steps towards adulthood
My own car
It’s bubble-gum pink
And plays only love
And then
The freedom
Popsicles melting in soft hands
Stolen glances
Swift touches
Leather slides off skin
On hot moist days of summer
In the back of a bubblegum car

I am in love
With words
Formed so beautifully
He smells of chalk
Tastes of words
Softly
Shakespeare whispered against my throat
Keats in the morning
My scholar
Wears tweed and horn-rimmed glasses
Ice-cream at midnight in bed
Freezes the roof of my mouth
Kisses that warm
Words that enflame
Whispered passionately
Uttered hurriedly
Professing falsely
Words that hurt

Elegant black cocktail dresses
Champagne that bubbles to my throat
Three inch heeled shoes
Ivory hairclips
Diamond earrings
Laughs sophisticated by practice
Smiles that give nothing away
Music that flows underneath it all
Elegant black cocktail dresses
Pooled at the foot ends
Of bleach white silk beds
Thousand dollar ties thrown loosely over chairs
“Yes, I’ll be your forever”

Taboos are meant to be broken
Stereotypes disproved
He loves roses and peaches
He has only seen Warhol in copy
The Beatles are so long gone
Only living in newsreels
Presley is farther back than legend
And he won’t touch animal flesh
Each tree actually counts
And that piece of bubble-gum wrap I dropped
Is destroying our planet
He takes me back to bubble-gum pink days
Taboos are meant to be broken
I am his rose
Peaches taste delightful in the morning
Don’t you think so?

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