The sun didn’t kiss these boys

It hugged them

The way you would with your best friend before

Leaving for a long time

It hugged them and

It made their skin the color of a caramel

And their hair like the sand

An apple is

A reminder

A token to bring you back

To the day in the orchard

When you were six years old

Sitting on your dad's shoulders

Reaching for an apple

That you had decided was perfect

i'll use your name. sweet nothings spill

from well-meaning mouths & shatter on concrete radiating summer sun

right back at you, perfect -- dainty -- shiny with dewdrops. they told me