AUTUMN UNBORN

Summer sits at the back of my throat

like a cough drop deliquescing

Spit soaked, she kisses my molars

and I will taste her well into autumn.

I still feel the sting of salt on my skin

weight crashing through the ripple

Sometimes when I shut my eyes, I see

rocks and satin sky and flaxen sand.

Autumn unborn, carry me to better things

days plentiful and abound with bliss

I lust for the newness of a body not my own

pressing upon me like a leaf come undone

Body, warm me as the seasons slip and switch

I am not quite ready to feel the cold.