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Witch from Minnesota
Her spell remains over me 44 years later
Once a bumblebee has kissed the nectar of Snapdragon
The creature is fever of succulence
She says, “You kiss so softly I think it’s a thing with guys with braces
My name is Bob.”
That’s quite a coincidence
After our third day at Civitan camp in Albion
High school awaits us all this fall
Someone wants to get their claws in us first
Suggests a new decade can be a better album spinning on its turntable
Then one from the 70s
I’m not so sure after all the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac
We sit together on a sidewalk
Still warm from the day’s sun
A bouquet of flowers cool overhead
Her lamp post hand rests on my blue jeans
She says she’s a witch and comes from Minnesota
“Bob from Minnesota.” I say
“That’s right. Bob from Minnesota. I came just for you.”
Moves her hand to my cheek traces her fingers to my lips
Abdomen to ovule
I remember her like this
And I suppose that is a magical spell as much as any
Long straight blond hair parted down the middle
Curtains half pulled back from the stage lights of her blue eyes
Thin lips a shoreline
A girl from Minnesota with a Michigan boy’s same name
Who says I kiss softly due to my braces
When I know it’s because I’ve never kissed a soft neck mystery
Until now
First taste of living free from home
She smokes a cigarette I can’t believe it
I ask for one she says “No I don’t think so.”
We talked much through that evening
About what? I have no memory
But she says when I dream of her she’s thinking of me
I sometimes still dream of her a lifetime later
Wish she’d come back
Wish I could rediscover how to kiss softly
Away from home again
A witch’s neck from Minnesota
I also remember
My dad said he was shocked at camp pick up
When he watched his young boy right in front of him
Kissed goodbye for so long and so softly on the lips
By an unafraid girl.
Copyright ©
Robert Trezise Jr.
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