The Ice Cream &
Candy Store
is where I first fell in love
with a girl who pranced in:
Parasol twirling,
lemon-ripe breasts,
eyes sparkling
like mint-jelly.
Candy canes twisting
like barber poles.
The same girl who passed by
my Kool-Aid stand
(who never spoke to me).
Freckles, cork-screw curls,
she blew me a kiss.
braces that
shimmered like diamonds.
A scoop
of raspberry sherbet
cost six cents,
a double-dip for a dime.
I roller-skated home
with a purple-stained shirt,
my heart pulsing
under a pink-lit sky.
