It was the summer of us.
Dumb decisions
We needed to learn from
Drunken nights
We barely remember
Life seemed simple
But the impending future
Glared at us with icy eyes
We tried to grasp every moment
Spend time with each other
Meaningless arguments
Deep discussions
Hidden loves
Because the fear of leaving
We knew no attraction would ever work
Some friends we have lost
We know the ending
We'll all lose touch eventually
What was the point behind all those years?
Fighting our way to the top
Only to be back on the bottom
The fear was deep within us
Make new friends
Make a new life
We were afraid to leave each other
Came to know each others tendencies
The most common phrase being
Let's make sure we keep in touch
We all know that's a lie.
Kisses behind barns
And parties in pastures
We know some will never leave this town
But we pretend to know our own futures
We all talk about out different paths
Our fears
Our hidden excitement
We really don't want to leave,
But we really really do.
Our goodbyes are coming
And we'll all cry when they do
But for now let's just pretend
We're all happy in our uncomplicated lives
Because we know our new lives begin
When we separate from each other
So let's be dumb
Stay up too late with some whiskey
Just talk about our fears
Because we are in the same boat
Live a little and have some flings
Let's make some bad decisions
Because this is our last summer
Before our lives begin,
And we want to remember it.

Lend me your hand,
drape your fingers over me and relax.
Trace the outline of my body,
barely coming into contact with my supple skin.
Use my skin as your ballroom floor,
as your fingers dance to a beautiful ballad.
Have me lingering onto the last touch,
and yearning for the next.
Glide over every inch of me,
bring forth goosebumps to my surface.
For if your fingertips were pens - and I, paper,
my entire body would be inked with your love.
Let not a single space on my skin go untouched,
don’t let any part of me fade and disappear.  
Cover me in your penmanship,
and make my existence permanent.

Dear thickness,
Dear bold flesh I call shelter of leg,
protection for this body I call home
Dear thighs.
You are more important than you think
more crucial than you've been told
more space than I know what to do with and
more vocal than most other girls' quiet but
your prominence is nothing to hide
your existence is not an apology ready to be given,
your presence does not want to be covered
the way you suffocate yourself into a pair of jeans is
a talent unlike any other
or on hot summer days when skin comes out to
kiss itself between your graces
leaving marks as evidence
what some would call chub rub,
I call magic,
an inability to resist touching,
Thighs.
You never let clothing,
or temperature,
or weather come between you
you are passionate lover,
the proud I always strive to be
the unapologetic beauty I wish was all of me
you maintain the confidence I have to dig for to find within myself
you have so much potential built into the many layers of thick
I cannot tell you enough how important it is
Some say you save lives and
I would have to agree
but still
I know that there have been times when I have neglected you
moments where I have been blind in acknowledging your worth
It is not an easy feat to love the parts of yourself we are taught from
such an early age to hate
magazines have always said be small while
you have always aimed for big
trends tell you to grow in when
all you've ever wanted is to grow out and
expand into a galaxy built of freckles and skin,
you are human as human as gets
I have made you into a warzone on more than
one occassion and for that I am sorry
I am sorry
for more than one reason
I am sorry that this world has twisted your greatness into embarrassment
I am sorry that people have tried to make an apology out of your density
I am sorry that we live in a society that keeps telling you to shrink
I am sorry for all of the times I have wanted you to.
It has taken me years to be thankful for your holy,
you are the answer to my every prayer for health
you are living proof of survival,
Thighs.

This is my proclamation of appreciation
This is my asking forgiveness
I never meant to make you feel anything but needed
Thighs.
you were not made to be thin
you were not meant to be shy
you were built to be the loudest voice in every room
head turning, eye catching, without remorse
you are never silent
even when I am
and for that,
I love you.

I would bathe myself in strangeness:
These comforts heaped upon me, smother me!
I burn, I scald so for the new,
New friends, new faces,
Places!
Oh to be out of this,
This that is all I wanted
—save the new.

And you,
Love, you the much, the more desired!
Do I not loathe all walls, streets, stones,
All mire, mist, all fog,
All ways of traffic?
You, I wold have flow over me like water,
Oh, but far out of this!
Grass, and low fields, and hills,
And sun,
Oh, sun enough!
Out, and alone, among some
Alien people!