from ‘poems for a brown eyed girl’

They held

hands

side to side, 

shoulder to shoulder,

and leaned 

Into each other 

until they touched 

cheek to cheek. 

She turned

and kissed him, 

her lips 

touching 

his skin 

so softly

he thought 

they were 

the petals 

of the magnolia flower 

that grew 

on the branch 

of the tree 

outside his window, 

her breath 

blowing 

his skin 

so gently

he thought 

it was 

the wind

of the early morning breeze

that rocked 

the tree 

outside his window.

- Trevor Scott Barton, poems for a brown eyed girl, 2018