fall/ing

summer
slipped quickly
through fingers outstretched,
straining for quicksilver days hazed
by heat and nights glazed hotter and sweeter
still, a season settled on bare backs, long legs and strong
arms, as season of sentences punctuated by pink polish and slim
wrists, branded by beauty marks inked intricately and dusty
feet dangled, refracted. summer slipped slick through
my hands like a caught fish, all wide eyes and
big mouth begging for depths dappled
dark and light, released by clumsy
hands quickly emptied of life
but moist with memory
of having held it
carefully for a
moment.