Sugar Baby Blue

Warmth, the first in months; rain on sun-dried pavement

Tender, winter-hidden skin exposed to the new season

Deep breath. Sweet smell. Not Burberry, but better

Teal twirl, slick-skipping moccasins, cherry hair

Run for lunch, windows down, dewy droplets clinging to my forearm

Breathing space spiced by a cinnamon-stick cigarette

Partner in crime in the passenger seat…where she belongs

Laughter like ours doesn’t ring; it’s not cliché like that

Like those unfettered stanzas boys used to send me, I made them insane

You and I aren’t thinking of them today, talking dresses and dreams

I painted a new face on this one-horse town

Because I’m done swinging from his tire swing

No more bare-feet-in-the-grass-type romps for this sugar baby

Chill, the sun sets, and so sets in my hesitation

Hours of typing, reading, replying, wasting my time trying

Your fancy name and your motorcycle rally can’t save you here, I see you

But it’s okay, it’s almost like no one ever taught you any differently

An apartment, the carpet coarse with tiny seared craters

The furniture, too; sheets, pillows, blankets, books

White lie, you barely ever smoke in there, it airs out well

First chance, only chance, no second chance, that’s the way it is

A parking lot, a jewel-box bank, your partner in crime, his passenger seat

Secret swill, spit into the newsprint which stains my fingers

Not allowed to call, tethered to the blue and whites

Gray lie, this is the last of the legal trouble, six more months, and it’s done

Second chance, only chance, no third chance, that’s the way it is

A romantic night, a second date, seasick to my stomach

Country fried steak sloppy and heavy on your plate, but nevermind

Kiss me underneath an amber streetlight, my lips are better than your drug

Black lie, it was beautiful waking up beside you, take a number, come again

Third chance, only chance, no more chances, that’s the way it is

Isn’t it?

Warmth, the first since yesterday; sunlight on my single bed

Arms and legs, wrapped around no one else

Deep breath. Sweet smell. Like freedom, but better

Gilded spark, defiant dance, head held high