sweet

i left the memory
of that boy
buried in the
backyard in the
new house in
Pittsburgh that
by now is not so
new anymore we
were still
children reckless
with our selves
lying down in
the soccer field
reaching down
each other’s
throats tacking
our fingerprints
like gum onto
the walls of each
other’s becoming
the children who
ripped each other
to bits like a bag of
taffies sprayed
across the yard
made soft in the
sun caramelized
until we got
stuck like lover’s
sap you could
not
scrape up the two
of us we boiled into
chewy sugar turned
black on the asphalt
ruined like confetti
in the lawn mower
this is the boy who
candied into tar
when too young we
didn’t know what
else could be done
the sweet tooth I
sometimes still run
my tongue across
soft at the gum line
like the last bit of
cream the water
chose not to take
with it he is the
reason i will never
call my daughter
home when she
tells me she’s met a
boy who’s sweet 

Share the love this Valentine’s Day with the Darling Conversation Cards. Every card has question prompts for you and your loved ones to enrich your relationships with deeper dialogue. 

Image via Raisa Zwart Photography