Driveway

Hold still,

because if your time in my life is short,

at least this moment could seem like it lasts forever.

Standing over me in the driveway like protection.

Or the bend of a willow tree,

hanging gorgeously over my body.

Sparks dance around our shoulders

as I romanticize the moment you lean in,

until you’re just close enough

so that my mind empties everything its ever known,

and now it only knows you.

Soft and barely there—

then the pressure hits.

I breathe in deeply to calm my heartbeat,

to stash away my fears,

so I don’t leap out of my skin,

or make any sudden movements

out of the excitement of this first kiss,

standing in the driveway.

The car is running with the engine rumbling low,

like an impatient crowd trying to hush their tone

so as not to disturb the magic that is occurring between us.

The few seconds of lingering moments in the cold air

doesn’t feel so bad with your arm around me,

but the wildness of this night is too feral for me to tame,

and I feel the water start to rise,

coming to my neck,

splashing up against the edges of my cheekbones.

Your eyes are like planets that are mistaken for stars,

glowing larger than anything anyone could ever hold; and all I see is you,

and a smile that I am not familiar with, but that I’d like to get to know.

In this moment, I do not know what is next.

Not even the leaf-shaped stains on the concrete can stop me from thinking about you,

or the memory standing in the driveway

under the moonlight,

deflecting the cold with the warmth of us.