Sour Apples

I used to look up at the sky
As I lay on my skateboard
At the end of the driveway
And think to myself
That you weren’t that far
+++++++++++++++++++++
Highlighter green
Apples poured off the trees
That lined the drive
littering the concrete
But I would push them aside
Rolling back and forth
As I stared at the sky
+++++++++++++++++++++
Thinking that this was the same sun
That wrapped you in light
And even though it was hard
Maybe you weren’t that far
…Just a sky away
….Not that far apart

 …Just a plane ride from today
And we were connected still
Because the clouds that rolled over me in the light of day
Would hover over you at night, in the sweet Pennsylvania dark
+++++++++++++++++++++
Just nine years old
I went where I was told
My back on the black sandy surface
Of a well-worn skateboard
That peeled at the corners
Nudging apples out of my way
As I rocked back and forth
In the burning heat of midday
With nothing in me that wanted to stay
+++++++++++++++++++++
But everything,
Everything would be okay
Because you…
Because my life…
Because everything I knew…
…was just a sky away.

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