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Nine Months of Spring
Location
Beneath rusted swings and burnt yellow slides
That curved between laughter and orange horizons
Laid her hand in his sweaty palm
She leaned her head on his undeveloped chest
Magnolias before they bloom,
Cotton, chaste
Red lava engulfed his cheeks
She used to play dress up
Sit on cement steps and braid my hair
Streaming down my back
Curling at my waist
Stopping
They sat still until adolescence led them to steel lockers
And concrete pavements
Laced with gossip and used lighters,
Cigarette butts and discarded Black and Milds
Her chest grew larger, tilting her lips to his collarbone
It lingered there
Tingling through her spine
Down her back
Climbing her fingers until they hung around his neck
Tracing years of playground hugs
Her lips touched his skin softly
Inhaling
Eradicating one clothing article at a time
Her stomach fell into spring
Blooming with stretched skin,
Protruding belly button
Porcelain dolls like ghosts hung silently in closed closets
They would be used again
But never by her
The last of her childhood
Nested in lemonade stands and
Faded chalk that danced to the squares of
Hopscotch