She was the girl he watched
all through the winter
with her hair sprinkled with powdered sugar
beneath the red and green
of the holiday.

She was the girl who noticed him
finally, when the sun melted the snow
into running rivulets in the grass parks and forests
along the edges of flower beds
and picnic blankets.

She was the girl who lured him in
with lips parted like a flower blossom
and hair like the April showers that pounded
the roof above their heads
as they cuddled til 3 am.

She was the girl who threw him out
when summer boys became an abundance
and he tumbled into the gutters with the dried weeds
and lay there all through the summer
wondering where he went wrong.