Things I'm saving for later

I remember

the special kind of cool

that you get in churches

in the summertime,

walking alone in the aisles

with my hair down

and feet bare.

I remember

lying under a bush

with strawberries and a book

with the cool moss

pressing designs

into the skin of my elbows.

I remember

the heat from the fire

on my shins

and the cold air

on my calves.

I would come inside,

face flushed,

smelling like wood smoke.

I remember

it’s beautiful,

and someday,

I’ll remember it for you.

Girl, Seventeen, American

Laying by the pool,

the hot cedar deck

floats heat waves

up through my beach towel

and I wonder

how long

until I’m medium-rare.

I know it’s silly

to see how long

I can lay still

before I get

that achy feeling in my stomach

that’s the human equivalent

of the turkey button popping up.

But I discovered something.

All the feminism

and self esteem in the world

never entirely erases

the images

of sleek, bronzed goddesses

slipping into crystal waters.

I may prefer to be intellectual,

but even intellectuals see Cosmo

in the grocery store checkout line.

Transition Period

Dirt roads,

windows down.

Hot air

blowing dust into

our teeth

our eyes

our hair.

We deserved

a summer of freedom,

or so everyone said.

We didn’t even

have to fight for it.

Unsupervised bonfires

movie nights

“Mom, I won’t be home ‘til late.”

I have no idea

how we got away with it

or how we got out of there alive.

Luminary

When I was in love with you

I was lit like Times Square.

If you brushed against me

the place glowed

for days,

making me look like a tramp

outside a cheap bar,

the dirty light

eaten by her polyester dress.

I wore your words around my wrist

like a cut-rate rosary bracelet,

all pale blue plastic

and tacky nylon cord.

I would lay in bed and wonder

if lightning bug are embarrassed

by how their butts light up

when they’re looking for a mate

…and if it’s at all like

how I’m embarrassed

that you can flick my smile

on and off

like a light switch.