This is not a Love Poem

This is a poem for all those summers at the beach.
For the days we spent walking up and down the sandy sidewalks in town.
For our little sand castles that could never survive over night.
For our massive games of Kick the Can with the rest of the neighborhood.
This is a poem for the Tea Cup ride at the Midway and how we would go on at least once a year,
even when we felt we were too old for it.

This is for the pizza eaten and the ice cream shared.
This is for our favorite little candy shop that always smelled like caramel.
This is for sitting at the counter at Cinderella’s,
on those red leather stools that always felt cold for some reason.
For the year we both got braces and how we spent the summer complaining.
For the time when I started wearing make-up
and you looked at me like I was some kind of alien.
For the days I started to get better at it.

This is a poem for our every day adventures
and for the nights we wouldn’t get home until after dark.
For the times we snuck out at one in the morning to go night swimming.
For the nights we ran around on the beach and acted like we were crazy
because we thought no one was watching.
For the time we realized we were growing up but didn’t care.

This is for the day you kissed me in the alley behind the gas station
and for the rest of the time we spent never talking about it again.
For movies we watched at my house when it rained.
For the blankets we shared and the popcorn we would throw at each other.
This is for the joint we smoked under the canal with my cousin Nick.

This is a poem for all those summers we spent at the beach.
This is for the boy with the sandy blonde hair that fell into ringlets.
For the boy with the beautiful green eyes, that I was always jealous of.
For the boy who lived two houses over.
This is not a love poem.
This is for the boy who was nothing more and nothing less than my best friend.