nineteen

your mouth tastes like ginger candy
tears fall from your muddled blue eyes
they sting both of our young faces
and they offer no disguise

summer kisses in my bedroom
light is streaming through the glass
birds are laughing, trees are clapping
do they know that nothing lasts?

holding hands down some deserted
neighborhood, dead-end street
we stare down the two sad faces
in the puddles beneath our feet

when we're older, will we linger?
will we travel the same roads?
will I love you, will you care dear?
oh my darling, only God knows.

we must always hope. always hope.