Page 24 - Contrast2009

ashleigh m, 'smith

You were everything that summer
love should be: nerves, a gentle first kiss
in a s·hadowed basement, whispers
woven into warm air, laden with impending rain
and the scent of fresh whiskers of gras.s. We linger

,'behinp the almond sliding'.glass door,
new with paint, and open fhe locked doors
inside each other', unfolding into a summer
wher~.marv~lling gazes and good-bye~ linger
at the front door, and every kiss
is the las~ ..I watched through the light rain

aas your" ca r v f aded into whisper

'and disappeared, between my smiles whispering
impatience until you show up again at my f ronr; door,
and entwined we 'watch the first raindrops
of thunderstorms meant for greater things than summer

distraction. With each more impassioned kiss,
it seems a little longer that our lips linger
in their embrace, as each lingering
,lightning stiike passes away with a whisper,
'and memories of outside are sun-kissed

into blonde streaks in my hair. I leave the screen door

open as we snack on blueberry'scones, scents of summer

~raze the hummingbird windchime, and drop

through wire mesh, leaving the deck to weather the raindrops

o~ August, falling frommis~y fair-day clouds that linger

through th'e last dog days "of tununer I .

'where the .redd i sh sun evaporates in whispers

df ruby and purple. I walk you to my door',
,and feel ~h~ dissolving heat preserved in your kiss.
That 'fi~stsummer, I lived to return your kisses,
sprinkled each week betwe~n,rainstorms
while we stood on the stoop, dark green door
open" waiting,; the dusk lingering
ina:g~ayed out sky, ,whispering
good-bye to our summ~r,

a summer ceiebrat~d between raindrops
of, kisses and in "I love you" wh i.spered
as we linger just outside my front door.