That day the boys
took us quickly.
They took us calmly.
It was not in our beds
or in the backseat
of a car or in a field
on a blanket.
They took us
with the magnificence
of their bodies.
They did not know
that when we watched
them make a play with skill and grace,
like a player mastering
the chess pieces on a board, silent
guardians of their own
sacred positions,
they had us.
Their bodies
were like fortresses,
their minds
half-barred windows.
They took us with intensity.
They took us
eager and as they took us
we knew we were different.
What we liked most
was their strength,
the throbbing
muscles in their necks,
the way their callused
hands gripped
the bat, ready to bear down,
ready to get some.
They did not know
it was enough to
find us with their eyes
across the field
behind the gated fence
when the air smelled
of manure and rotting grass
when we did not yet
know we wanted them.
ISSUE: Summer 2014