Hopscotch Streets

In the summers
I think of you
And the magic we strung
Like sparkling beads
Memories piling up
Like clay swirls into a saucer

We took plain days
That could've stayed gray
And splattered them
In a manner
More extraordinary
Than anything I've ever seen

Music circled our souls
In cavernous concert halls
With roaring orchestras
Or on your patchwork quilt
As we sat side by side
Singing old lullabies
Shimmering and
Faded like your
Soft, plaid shirts

We walked hopscotch streets
Not far from the ocean
Skipping over secret lawns
To dance together
Under church and steeple and
Lights that twinkled as
My heart was breathless
Never before have I experienced
Anything like
The night we walked
Quietly to your secret hideout
Warming our hands by
The crackly fire
Beneath salty sea air

I sang you the words
To my favorite song
And you smiled;
So comfortable were we
Side by side
I can't say that I've ever
Tasted the magic of summer
As fully as I did you with you,
With strawberry ice cream
With triangle watermelon
On sprawling lawns
Between art that whispered
At mysterious museums
And
You and me
On the hopscotch streets
A perfect picture,
Packed up in my
Dusty memory.