10 when I asked him out

when I asked him out

We sat under a tree, the summer heat

beating on my back, his eyes lingering

over my freckles like honey

that dripped in lazy motions.

 

The shade fell around

the empty playground as a blanket,

comforting from the sweltering heat;

the yellow rubber swings paddling

 

like ducks in the dry breeze.

My heart puttered

in my elephant weighted chest.

My bones groaned as I moved,

 

aching in confessing

my one-sided thought feelings,

my voice remaining timorously small.

I looked everywhere but his face,

 

flickering my eyes

for something

to keep my attention

from my nerves.

I could feel the perspiration

sticking across my cheeks exude

my anxiety, a giant, glistening

sign of what I wanted kept hidden.

 

I think we can have

a great relationship,

and be happy together.