That summer, school and our mothers
Were A thousand miles away,
So we made best friends
And dearest times of it.
That summer the naked patch of earth
Was hot And burnt our knees
From crawling down the rows,
Dropping kernels.
That summer the lake felt best
On a nothing- but- friendship-
Bracelet skin just past midnight,
When the angry swans
Were sleeping and the adventure
Was an unresisted secret.
That summer floaty swimming noodles Metamorphosed into sea- horses
We rode side- sweep
With our ankles crossed, we mermaids.
That summer the goats ate whole bags of Fritos tossed to them in handfuls
From the tops of cars,
And entire watermelons
Bombed from the hayloft.
That summer an old willow learned
The name of every boy we met,
And never told us anything
We didn't want to hear.
That summer the chicken coop was our Club house, so we decked it out with
All the stickers in our collections, Tacked our list of rules
To the wall, and forgot about it.
That summer Nana's ABBA records blared
And we learned all the words while we Danced on the living room furniture.
That summer we were the sweetest
Sun- kissed princesses to ever walk Touchstone Ranch...
Or at least we thought we were.
That summer the earth roughed up my Hands and the sun browned my face,
But my cousin
Sent me home a different person.