summer's light sweat as you combed my hair
a trace of shampoo as you bent to kiss me
Mercurochrome and Band-Aids when you patched me
pancakes frying as you stood at the stove
bluing in wash water on Monday mornings
sun-bleached bed sheets swaying in the wind
peanut butter cookies fork-mashed crossways
cinnamon on apples you picked from the tree

March 27, 1987