Peaches

I might forget that last sunset 

The star sunk without fight 

But I will not forget the laughs 

That we shared on that night 

The peaches were still hard as rock 

When they bounced on the road 

As did the carelessness we left 

To shoulder our old load 

Initials carved into the tree 

Are married now with kids 

We too, leave those trees far behind 

Forevermore to miss 

We bought creme soda that last night 

And cherished what we lived 

The soon-to-be-nostalgia set 

Of summer’s gleeful gift 

We gazed far off into the night 

Our bare arms intertwined 

The stars appeared; the grass turned cold 

His sweatshirt became mine 

The sun had melted freckles on 

Our free and active face 

In coming months, they’d soon freeze off 

With pimples in their place 

We could protest, but fall would come 

The heat would turn to chill 

Now darkness sets at sev’n or eight 

While insects become still 

The quiet snow days call our name 

And yet so does routine 

Enthusiasm greets the first

But not the latter scene 

My hands, once sticky from the fruit 

Are cracking red from cold 

They hold the hope of summertime 

Creation's finest gold