For Scarlet, In Our Season by Bebe Cullen

Scarlet and I
have never seen each other in the summer.
She’s tan in the fall,
I’m flushed in winter,
In spring we’re both
Green eyes and
Long weekend drives.
She didn’t know
That since I cut my hair I
Like to dry it in the sun.
I teach her:
This is how you lay the towel
On the lawn.
This is how you turn so your
Waves wind to ringlets, how
It gets so hot that red bakes to blonde.

She throws a frisbee in
The park and it spins
Over me
To the young girl reaching for it,
A stranger she’s invited to play.
Scarlet knows how to make friends.

When the stars pop out
One by one
And I ask her how she’s sure
They’re not all lightning bugs,
We settle.
I read aloud Frank O’Hara and
She traces a line through
Each freckle on my arm.
Orion’s Belt of Fireflies

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Bebe Cullen is a junior at Falmouth High School and leads her school’s poetry club and online newspaper. She’s a strong podcast listener, everyday diarist, and Sylvia Plath enthusiast.