Pale sky     high clouds     the heat soaks into the concrete

making shadows out of everything     it’s the Establishment

of Summer again     the city open to light and humidity

see the dust     gnats     pollen     tinsels of pollution

the sweat on my arm     coursing through the hair

like cars along the winding coastline     where my brother and I

swam and paddled as dogs     swallowing brine     small stones

our own piss     our mouths embittered     only to spit

at each other’s face     the length of the shore measured

by the clams we picked     then dropped into the blue bucket

we laid the shells on charcoals at night     watched them

crackle     their meat     dead and full of sand

the sand of some other beach     where my childhood

friends and I dug with our hands     nails collecting grains

a pit to bury     driftwood     crabs and soda cans

a treasure chest     we made no map to     wouldn’t uncover

even if we stood on the X     one more time     we shouldn’t

ask for the keepsakes     we’ve gifted to the land     let the land

remember us     let it remember for us     because I can’t return

to the time the girl I liked lay next to me     the damp towels

the fearful sun     the angst of not knowing how to talk

without leaving     a clue of what I wanted     we ran

to the waves     and sank ourselves     so we could touch

spume clinging to our skin     a straitjacket of salt

we struggled to strip off     it was sticky     it was

bliss     eternally thick on these bodies of ours     dear

brother     dear friends     my dearest girl     here we are

look how much we’ve perspired     on this day

there are things we can never wash off     can we