Read Online After the Kiss by Terra Elan McVoy - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Terra Elan McVoy
Ads: Link
blowing the roof off, pulling up the fence. you see him and you smile and then itâs just one step, two steps and heâs over you and under you and all over you and itâs not some
youâre cute i might like you
kiss, nor a confused and disgusting sloppy-slather fueled by all that vodka kool-aid heâs obviously had. no, this is a mouth with momentum, a train on one track paying no heed to any warning clangs, a chemistry set just waiting for someone to put the wrong powder in the right tube and make something explode. this kiss says he needs you more than all those puppies put together, that heâll aim over and over at the tender haiku buried deep in your own trenches until he hits the right syllable. this kiss will wipe your mind of all things, will make you forget your name your face what town youâre living in and whoâs driving you home. it is a kiss that, when it endsâafter heâs summoned laughing into the dark by shouting boys in the drivewayâwill leave you gasping and glossy-eyed for hours later, will follow you home as you stare in the bathroom mirror at the chewed-looking spots his stubble left on your chin. it is a kiss so loud and long that your whole mind will scream,
that canât happen again,
while your body will still twitch a little, wondering if it could just once more.
memory reset
monday lunch and ellen is all eyes and ears wanting to know about you and the catcher, the boy you forced yourself to forget all day yesterday, doing french extra credit you donât need, making sure your mind didnât wanderâhelping mom with dinner, organizing your socks. now ellen is nudging and winking so loud that dorie and willow and autumn and connor and even some of the boys are curious, looking at you, listening in. when you try to brush her off with rolling eyes and a flick of the wrist ellen says
oh no
and grabs your shoulders and presses her forehead against yours and says in this silly deep voice
you were having an illicit mind-meld and we want to know all about it
. and you laugh a little and think
was that it
? some kind of meeting-of-the-minds thatâs resulted in yours now being a little half-melted when you think about him? maybe you need to remind yourself that a clash of personality traits you didnât first anticipate does notâdoes notâmean the worldâs reversed its poles, that you donât still know exactly how this is all going to wind up in a few short months anyway, no matter how many haiku he writes or how he kisses. even these friends nowâlook at them, look at their faces closelyâwill be gone and leave you, and you will leave them, and you know that. wrap your arms around their shoulders now, drive in their cars to parties, pinky swear youâve never met anyone like them before, have yourslumber parties and hold them close, but remember the thing you know and they donât is that this time right now is even more fleeting than you think. remember all you are doingâwith anyoneâis killing time. (though killing time with a catcher who can kiss like that seems a lot nicer than killing time alone.)
Becca
New Morning
Force myself
to get up at five AMâmaster
the half-blind hair wash,
the sticky-eyed climb
into clothes I donât care about.
Suffer silent
along the empty-blue-black drive
past houses with their hats
still over their eyes,
the trees waiting in dark quiet
for the golden tickle
that means the sun.
Straighten my spine
on the crisp-cold walk
to the back bakery door
with its warm yellow light.
Inside inhale
deep enough to make my toes uncurl:
coffee-cinnamon-pastry-welcome
âa new morning
no one else has smelled.
Work quickly,
filling glass cases with
warm pumpkin-buttery bundles,
croissant toasty crispness
and deep doughnut delish.
Laugh with Nadia
âher smile
always on anyone,
but this morning, just me.
Clasp
the steaming mug
offered in my
youâre cute i might like you
kiss, nor a confused and disgusting sloppy-slather fueled by all that vodka kool-aid heâs obviously had. no, this is a mouth with momentum, a train on one track paying no heed to any warning clangs, a chemistry set just waiting for someone to put the wrong powder in the right tube and make something explode. this kiss says he needs you more than all those puppies put together, that heâll aim over and over at the tender haiku buried deep in your own trenches until he hits the right syllable. this kiss will wipe your mind of all things, will make you forget your name your face what town youâre living in and whoâs driving you home. it is a kiss that, when it endsâafter heâs summoned laughing into the dark by shouting boys in the drivewayâwill leave you gasping and glossy-eyed for hours later, will follow you home as you stare in the bathroom mirror at the chewed-looking spots his stubble left on your chin. it is a kiss so loud and long that your whole mind will scream,
that canât happen again,
while your body will still twitch a little, wondering if it could just once more.
memory reset
monday lunch and ellen is all eyes and ears wanting to know about you and the catcher, the boy you forced yourself to forget all day yesterday, doing french extra credit you donât need, making sure your mind didnât wanderâhelping mom with dinner, organizing your socks. now ellen is nudging and winking so loud that dorie and willow and autumn and connor and even some of the boys are curious, looking at you, listening in. when you try to brush her off with rolling eyes and a flick of the wrist ellen says
oh no
and grabs your shoulders and presses her forehead against yours and says in this silly deep voice
you were having an illicit mind-meld and we want to know all about it
. and you laugh a little and think
was that it
? some kind of meeting-of-the-minds thatâs resulted in yours now being a little half-melted when you think about him? maybe you need to remind yourself that a clash of personality traits you didnât first anticipate does notâdoes notâmean the worldâs reversed its poles, that you donât still know exactly how this is all going to wind up in a few short months anyway, no matter how many haiku he writes or how he kisses. even these friends nowâlook at them, look at their faces closelyâwill be gone and leave you, and you will leave them, and you know that. wrap your arms around their shoulders now, drive in their cars to parties, pinky swear youâve never met anyone like them before, have yourslumber parties and hold them close, but remember the thing you know and they donât is that this time right now is even more fleeting than you think. remember all you are doingâwith anyoneâis killing time. (though killing time with a catcher who can kiss like that seems a lot nicer than killing time alone.)
Becca
New Morning
Force myself
to get up at five AMâmaster
the half-blind hair wash,
the sticky-eyed climb
into clothes I donât care about.
Suffer silent
along the empty-blue-black drive
past houses with their hats
still over their eyes,
the trees waiting in dark quiet
for the golden tickle
that means the sun.
Straighten my spine
on the crisp-cold walk
to the back bakery door
with its warm yellow light.
Inside inhale
deep enough to make my toes uncurl:
coffee-cinnamon-pastry-welcome
âa new morning
no one else has smelled.
Work quickly,
filling glass cases with
warm pumpkin-buttery bundles,
croissant toasty crispness
and deep doughnut delish.
Laugh with Nadia
âher smile
always on anyone,
but this morning, just me.
Clasp
the steaming mug
offered in my
Similar Books
