Ecstasy of Summer Thirteen

Ecstasy of Summer Thirteen                                                          

An 8pm August sunset,
A boy and I
Counted for manhunt on
The concrete of front porch steps.
He leaned into me
With slim shoulders and
Prickled armpits
In a South Park tee.

He was only showing me
How he kissed her;
Thigh gap girl, 4 foot 11
And he was 5'3, she was
His best friend's cousin,
She was pretty and small
And sweet.

He'd known her from
Family fourth of Julys, me
From a middle school hallway.
I was a happy face
In sixth period Home and Careers,
A good friend;
Too bad we're told
Junior High doesn't
Last forever.

But it was me
He wished to prove his charm to
In a play,
A preview of his first time.
I stayed still
While he moved his mouth
Close enough to touch mine
But not quite-
A feeling I'd not yet come to know, but
Wanted to.

When I smelled his breath
Of sour patch kids and skittles
I was glad to be
His partner in science class,
In manhunt, in text messages...

That's when
The spark began to ignite;

I was 13
When I first wanted
To be his partner in life.