You Know I Hate the Sun

Poem by Parker Jones / In the Ords

You Know I Hate the Sun, 

but I’d walk with you in the heat of summer, 

with the smell of apricots and sweat, 

to watch you feel the warmth & smile. 

it’s easy to see the appeal, with your skin aglow 

and the flowers in your hair 

i can picture your hands threading beads, 

the click of glass rounds. 

watch you bite into a plum and the juice run down your arm. 

(i’ll set my time to you, sunrise/sunset & 

you’ll never have to worry.) 

would you want to try the things we haven’t? 

make macaroni with me. the kind that comes in a box 

with powdered cheese that your mother never let you have. 

go with me to the county fair and we’ll eat corndogs and cotton candy 

and make fun of the townies and cowboy boots. 

take me trick-or-treating and we’ll match our outfits 

and trade candy and I’ll laugh when you’re scared. 

you’d like my town in October, small enough to walk in an hour. 

the locals will say, “Aren’t you girls a little old…?” 

could we paint each other by the sea? 

you can watch me on the shore as I catch a wave, 

& I’ll always look back to smile at you.