SUMMER BLONDE

Has toes that avoid sandals,
attracting sand like breakfast syrup;
Knees temporarily hidden by
the refrain of a wave,
Polka-dotted tank-topped frame
captured like errant dolphins in a polaroid.

Is more skin than clothes,
more sun than clouds -
applies herself to my lips like chapstick.

loves her like a switch,
demanding click repeating itself
till the bulb flickers and burns out.

haven’t been home for days;
ruthlessly rummaging through
the new refrigerator,
licking cheese off your fingers,
but that door still shifts to let you in.

you snatch the remote control,
spreading sound. she wakes up,
but you want her not now but later.

We watch stars
like left eyes angling for a sideway glance,
profiles stencilled in black marker.

Green hill’s cold, laden with
a hint of last year. Ankle on blanket;
guilty telescope grounded,
face-to-face with your thin socks.

On this night
I am waiting for more than just darkness:
avoiding our orbit, still insisting
I don’t want to be the centre of your universe.