The summer that we spent riding bicycles
through uncharted woods and watching
dolphins break the surface of the ocean like
a hidden wonder refusing to be kept
from the world, we wore matching
bracelets and our names were always
tacked together, never one without the other.
Forever was a concept that we had yet
to grasp, but we threw it out as if it was
a ticking bomb about to explode at any moment.
Perhaps the beached whale we found at
the beginning of August was our first
sign that nothing truly lasts, but we tried
to hold on, white knuckles and all, until
we saw that our bracelets had begun to fray
and our names, at once so melodic,
just left ringing in our ears.
Even Lewis and Clark went their separate
ways once the adventure was over.