When Summer Belonged To Us

Unidentified Photographer, [Two unidentified girls, one eating watermelon, the other disrobing], ca. 1960 (2012.24.1) from Fans in a Flashbulb

When summer belonged to us,

we shot out of school doors like pinballs

pinging off trees, porches, each other,

racing toward imagined jackpots

We lay in the heat,

hair and freckles bleached with lemon juice

and tasted the tang on our skin

We shucked Silver Queen on front steps,

the silk sticking to our fingers

and stealing nibbles off the cobs

We grabbed thick slices of watermelon,

ate them down to the rind,

sweet juice dripping down our wrists,

then spitting the seeds

across crabapple dappled lawns

We set the pace of our days

to suit our moods

and lingered under street lights

well past dusk

Feigning deafness to the calls of parents,

we schemed our next scheme

There was always another tomorrow

when summer belonged to us.

submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Elephants Dance In Fancy Pants-Get Listed