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Climbing Trees
Peter R. Selover
When you kiss someone it should be
400 years of the history of dance
performed on the tip of a spoon
a good kiss is a broken lock on a door
that allows you to sneak into a film
that is in a language that you will not understand
until the kiss is over
kissing is like eating
you can chew quietly and agree
about the new color for the den
or you can leave a mess
and a month later lie to your friends
about the scratches in the furniture
a kiss is an orchestra on a keychain
some kisses are candy stores
other kisses are tigers
explaining to house cats how they once lived
if a kiss was a word
I would hope that you would be unable to spell it
or any other word
for at least an hour after you stopped kissing
a kiss should have its own weather
a great kiss should have weather
that nobody can predict
the best kisses are bottles of ink
with the tightest lids
so many years later
you can open them up
and write for days
her mouth was a piano
and her eyes were the reason
that everyone wanted to play it
if her smile was a country
I would throw away my passport
and never leave it
I would use her smile
to explain to a deaf person
what music is
the corners of her mouth are the secrets
that stars tell each other during the day
on days that our lives become oceans
it will be kissing that turns all of that water
into something that we can drink
when I do kiss her
it will be the way that I climbed trees as a child
unaware of any good reason
to come back down
—
Peter R. Selover is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He also writes children’s books and is a percussionist. In addition to his writing, he has worked in many factories and spent a long time as a nanny.
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Have you read these poems:
In Terms of the Night Sky by John Grey
Ditched by Sarah M. Brownsberger
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