Seasons of Love

Summer was denim shorts and cowboy hats,
Cigarette butts ashed into coke cans
During road trips to the lake.
It was the plug-in fan that groaned
As we wrestled beneath the sheets
Discovering each other again and again.
Summer was deep dry fever
And getting drunk beneath the moon
While cicadas and grasshoppers argued into the night.

Autumn was university sweatshirts and naked dorm rooms,
A weighted sack slung across my shoulder
As I trudged from class to class.
It was incessant text tones
A chorus of bells that praised our love
Like a church choir on Sunday morning; but still
Autumn was a new kind of lonely.
A peach pit lodged in my throat
And dusty bones in bed beside me.

Winter was a frozen desert
And the death of stomach butterflies
Replaced with knives.
It was a snowball wrapped in broken glass
Hurled straight at my face and
Salty stains on my pillowcase.
Winter was frostbite and black ice
When you left
Without even saying goodbye.

Spring was rebirth
Fresh dew on the lawn and yellow dandelions –
But you gave your love to someone else.
It was sobs of nostalgia
As I watched you plant another garden
And blossom anew.
Spring was sticky heat;
Choked, snotty breaths,
And prayers for a summer that would never come.