French Kissing in the USA

a new poem

French Kissing in the USA


One more time. 
One more summer.
The grass under you.
The pink cherry stains.
Someone takes you out.
Someone shows you their gun.
A firework goes off.
The blue boys
swim the lake.
So much blood in the body.
So much salt on the skin.
Like it’s being prepared for something. 
Like a mouth fills with fizz.
The sharp sugar of it.
Your black jeans. The red cars. 
Where you learn to lie down.
Where you pick the right guns. 
And the highways are warm.
And our bodies—
where will they fit in the Earth? 
Under the football fields maybe.
What will they be after August?
Strip malls paved over the heart.
Hearts and kisses.
Kisses and hearts. 
You better stay strong for it, angel.
One of these mornings
everything will be taken away.

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