Summer

Summer

My brother and I playing pretend

In our jungle of a backyard

Never getting bored,

In a bubble of childhood imagination

I remember how the popsicles would melt

Down my arms in red streams,

Feeling sticky but not caring

I remember making robot noises in the sputtering fan,

Which was no match against the sweltering heat

I don’t remember when exactly

Everything seemed to have changed

Summer treats tasted sickeningly sweet

And I had decided that I was much too old for childish games

I no longer found wonder in tall grass and red ants

All I felt was the heavy heat