eons before
puberty
set in

closer to
purity

light
years away
from sin

her name
was flame,
in the local
tongue

we were
eight, and
all she asked
me to do

was knot
up the left
shoulder
threads
of her
dress

it was
a quiet
childhood
moment

yet what
I felt then
was an
inkling
of love
probably

that hours
spent together
watching Tom
& Jerry on VHS

had culminated
to this sweet
little gesture
of innocence