your summer at fernwood
by Jeffrey Owen Pearson
because men were forbidden
in your room
we camped deep in the hardwoods
where two streams slipped
into one
it always rained
and skin stuck to skin
in a glorious sweat
you joked every time I came
the blankets were a tent
and you need bring no poles
at first light when we walked among
the wild bergamot
and prairie blazing stars
hummingbirds suckled
near your breasts
late summer
the rocket grass
fired red
like a beautiful disaster
Bio: Jeffrey Owen Pearson’s poems appear in So It Goes, Reckless Writing Anthology, Tipton Poetry Journal, Flying Island and Maize. His chapbook Hawaii Slides was published by Pudding House Publications. A member of the Midwest Writers Workshop, he lives in Muncie.