i crave how your lip gloss tastes
against my teeth. it spreads thin
to my gums & smothers over them
like bathing suit to skin. when
we dive off the deep end & lurch
up for air i check that the water
hasn’t corroded your honey-dried
glow. i think your shoulders might
always reflect the golden roasted
sun. you are the sure embodiment
of sweet oak, raisins & warmness.
now: frankie valli’s crooning in
the background. don’t the lyrics
latch to the longing of our lips,
heavy & pressing & pulped like
memories yet to come, of day—
light glimmer crippling in our
palms. but we shouldn’t ponder
it. not yet, at least. let’s drift on
the water like sugared marigolds,
always facing up & never away,
locked like lips & tanning softly.
i mean, what if we leaped off the
sanded rim, were swiftly suspended
in the moment, still yearning &
raw. maybe you whispered let’s
try something new, exhilaration
settling on our thirsting tongues
like chlorine layering tiled deck,
only to stir again and withdraw
quickly. i covet the fleeting
summer to manifest miracles of
experimentation. for your touch
to outshine the shallow pool with
its magnitude & for your breath to
overwhelm the sweltering of the air.
how i ache for the unbearable heat
to have deluded us, so then i swim in
texas only for fuzzy shimmer of gloss