My memories of last summer are dark
Not because they are sad, or lonely
But because we turned the lights off
We focused on senses other than sight
We turned the lights off in order to taste
To taste the Chinese take-out we drove home through the setting sun
To taste the ice cream eaten with plastic spoons in flashes of moonlight
We turned the lights off in order to hear
To hear the television's twists and tracks
To hear our own stories and voices raised in jesting rage
To hear laughter
Laughter
I can still hear our giggles and shouts, feel them in the decades-old couch where we lived
I remember those days in low light and summer shadows
And I would not change them for the world

But next summer
Next summer will be all about the light
Sunlight streaming through car windows and fighting past designer shades
Sunlight reflecting and glaring from every surface
Warming our skin as we sing our summer songs and drive
An open road for an open heart
Skirts flowing in the breeze as we walk in a daze
California crossroads and seaside streets
Lit up and shining almost as bright as our smiles
We might not taste the coffee or hear the ocean roar
But we will see things we have never seen
A summer of sights
And I would not change them for the world