Boys

you spin me around

mouth full of mint

brightly lit

ticklish

blurring lines like

hypocrites

*

you throw back your head

dramatically

I twirl, you grin

ecstatically

my courage is rewarded

impeccably

*

you lay beside me

platonically

arctic monkeys

in your bed

this is me

content

*

you lift up your shirt

a tiny whale

etched on your skin

waves crash behind us

we’re burning through the

summer

*

you called me

little lady

and I melted

in my boots

I used to be so silly

my little fantasy

*

you sit on a playground

holding me to you

nothing fake

between us

but the padding

on my chest

*

your hi-tops and teeth

were a brilliant white

never made me feel

embarrassed

for being

perhaps, too young

*

you bring my shaking body

to you

too many lights

too many bricks

too many bodies

in this space

*

you come to me

in green bubbles

shell rock digs into

my skin

pretending to work

pretending to sin

*

you count

23 faces

decide my words are the only ones

that count

demand I am bigger, while you are so small

I count

*

your cheek rests on leather

four in the morning

glazed over

brown eyes on mine

the drug in your blood

taking its time

*

you did nothing wrong

I climb onto the table

wrap around you as best I can

someone captures the moment

—forgive me, forgive me, forgive me—

of me being the best I can

*

your name was said

the air gone from my chest

my heart ceased to beat

the five seconds

I thought yours had

for good.