Poems Don't Have to Rhyme

Poems Don't Have to Rhyme Redux

Fires curl up in their mouths

Tongues wagging, red tails

Spreading all across the town.

They talk until someone listens,

A principal, a policeman, my mother,

And so the plot sickens.

We're going to die today, you and I

At least they called in ahead of time.

The summer starts all over again,

I met you then; beneath the old apple tree,

My age was ten and double threes.

You sang a sweet song for me.

I should have run, they all say,

But how could I, when you showed me the way?

We talked again, and then every day

From June to midsummer.

I didn't say it then, but I'll say it now:

I loved you then, and I love you now.

Whispers of sweet nothings,

Float above the crowd,

Higher, higher,

Till they reach the heavens; the last memory of that summer.

I see my pretty face in your old eyes

While we sit side by side,

Your hand grips mine,

The veins roped like vines,

I loved you then, and I love you now.

My friends deserted me.

My parents abandoned me.

You were my last friend by the end

Of that bittersweet summer.

I'll race you to Heaven one last time.

They're coming up the road,

But it's all right.

They're walking up the steps,

But it's all right.

They're beating down the door,

But it's all right,

I'm here with you,

We'll get through this night.

Our summer romance was a bust,

Now we've got to bite the dust,

My heart rusted like your body,

So I guess this is the end

Of you and me.

I'll let you win the race to Heaven,

Since you've waited longer than me

So long, my old friend,

Until we meet again.