I'll never pin a boutonniere without thinking of you.

The way you would puff your chest,
and hold your breath
as if to both impress me and to prepare
for the needles to make contact with skin.
The tacky grin with your uneven lip
seen in pictures that I loved so much.
Pinning flowers to your chest,
a necklace from you on mine.
Posing on the chipped white paint
that covered the deck
looking over Lake Arlington.
The ring modeled after a tiara
wraps around my ring finger
which was entwined with yours.
Your brother’s suit
punctured with the white orchid
hugged by the the navy ribbon.
But now there is another boy in another suit.
Another chest puffed out.
But the same ring on my finger
as I pin a boutonniere
on someone I wish was you.