Life, Death, and Everything In Between

The Summer of Us

That summer

Was the summer of sweet, chocolate fudgesicles

Dripping on sticky fingers

It was the summer of walking barefoot

Until you stepped on a shard of glass in the road

That summer

Was the summer we found out

About my allergies the hard way

And was the summer I would wake up

To find you at my door, ready to go.

That summer

Was the summer when the smell of smoke

Always hung in the air from our fire pits

And when we spent endless nights

Catching fireflies and setting them free

That summer

Was the summer of swimming in sand and salt

Pretending we were mermaids

And the sound of flip flops flapping

Could be heard all day and night.

That summer

Was the summer when fresh-picked blueberries

Were constantly bursting on our tongues

And when we were up to our elbows

In rainbows of friendship bracelets.

That summer

Was the summer of staying up late

And sharing secrets and ghost stories

It was the summer we found a dead snake

And you said, “Cool!” and wanted to bring it home.

That summer

Was the summer of dandelion chains

Hung around our necks and on our heads

And it was the summer we discovered

The snapping turtle in the pond

That summer

Was the war of the water balloons

With squirt gun armies

Was the summer of climbing trees and

Scraping our hands on the rough bark.

That summer

Was the summer that sounds like every other one

But it wasn’t.

That summer

Was the summer of two best friends

And their adventures.

That summer

Was the summer of us.