To Be Astonished 

Breezes out of nowhere effervesce 

across our whispering tongues, midday 

light scatters her heady fragrance 

far beyond boyhood’s red bicycles, rooftop 

escapades, mischief-making 

job descriptions and voluptuous 

caramel sundaes taken in ecstatic 

silence on creaky drugstore stools, lips

smacking the only sound. Later 

those Saturday afternoon movie screens 

hurling magic towards beguiled eyes 

like flames blowtorched from a mighty 

dragon.  Nothing could match 

that freedom then, that flying 

through space shoelaces flapping, 

grinning and cavorting, belly laughing,

where even freckles pack dancing shoes.