My first kiss was stolen
in kindergarten
when I turned
to respond to a question
his mouth met mine
and I learned
for the first time
that boys take
and we
are supposed
to give

serendipity is summer
laying down with
siblings long forgot
they giggle as
their bodies
brush my skin
goosebumps greet them
together we look
to the mother
and wonder
naught
if she will
keep shining,
but instead
breathe the rebirth
of heavy life
and stretch
with our grassy kin
reaching
endlessly
for her salvation

one day a bottle
won't be my gatekeeper
and I will find you

lover

with trusting

touch

replacing him on me
and I will think of you
inside, within me

"you are one of us"
the flowers whisper
No! Can't they see
I have pulled off
My petals?
To be bare
is without fear
of getting plucked
one by one
only to land on
"he loves me not"
I can't take
that plucking
again

I keep a library
small but not tiny
nearly filled to the brim
a million words within
I keep watch over them
a lonely archivist whose sin:
reading dusty texts whilst yearning
even with them burning
my skin