summer boy

My sweet summer boy,
You’re like wild strawberries—
Odd and peculiar, shy and confused.
You even smell like one.
—The strawberries, I mean.

“You don’t like it?” you asked me the other night.
Darling, even the bees love the scent;
Why wouldn’t I?
I love it, I said.
Oh, I know you smiled.

Like the rays of sunshine during summer,
You, my dear, have brought me to life.
The monsoon I felt this past season
Has taken pieces of me,
Yet your words comforted me:
“Don’t show your sadness.
Think of yourself.
Time will heal.”

Have faith,
I will.
I’ll cherish the sweetness,
Even as the storms pass,
For you are the sun
That warms my heart.