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I. Summer

Your smile twists me out of sleep
Like a corkscrew and I’m ready
To feel the sunrise at 6am, I inhale
Bumblebee-dizzy and full of vitality
A mile from this shadow-speckled step
We spend the day juggling flower sticks
Circus tricks, we the young idealists
With eyes ocean-wet and wide we learn
More than just how to throw and catch
Under the foliage, linking our arms and laughter
Hiding ourselves in the envelope of tight arms
We draw in each others’ love like a first cigarette
Ignoring the fading embers and your restless shoes
We leave the park for the moon on the river
Long after the sun has sunk we clasp hands
As I walk that mile home lightheaded
I feel the naked empathy of the streetlights

II. Autumn

Hues of orange sway
Clothing soon to be bare trees
A child seeks conkers

III. Winter

The leaves skittled across the ground
The colour of tobacco, brittle
Scratching their way like
Crabs released from a bucket
They gave way to powder
Wind straight from Russia
Compressed the clouds
And I fought a war
With unfamiliar friends
Right here we threw snowballs
Until we risked our hands
And time left us there
A frozen photograph to keep
April beckons, the staccato rain
And fresh skies, the birds
Won’t struggle so hard to stay alive
If this cold was not so pure, there would be no
Bitter smile on my lips at all

IV. Spring

The ground dewy where
Your riverside footprints fell
Where do they fall now?