First Kiss Story

Here, in this local park,
with the unforgettable stench
of weed and under-boob sweat,
is where you will almost,
have your first kiss

– twice
– with two different boys

– and one girl.

With the body count
and private location
you are unsure if
this is more murder mystery
than first kiss story.

Although, something did die there;
three times
you returned home with
dry lips and wet eyes,

– your face did not belong to you anymore
it is,
it was,
an abandoned
haunted house,
each empty room,
places they could have kissed:

A warm hand against a cold cheek, fingers sweeping across to brush the hair from your eyes, like curtains drawn back to reveal the morning light – except, there was no sunrise, the sky stayed dark and cloudy,

your hair still stank of weed.

You will have your first kiss 5 years later.

Those boys,
that girl,
will be ghosts crawling across your cheeks,
living inside you.

When this boy leans in,
you will feel them
clawing up the corridor of your throat,
and you will vomit them out in apologies:

‘Sorry, I’m really nervous, I’ve never done this before. I mean, I almost did… I don’t know what to do I–’

And then your teeth chink together,
and shaky, nervous bodies
burst into laughter,
into daylight,
and he goes in again.

Your lips have finally been doused, with someone else’s saliva, and it was all you needed to wash the ghosts away.