Love Poem: List of people I've kissed
JJ Wiparina Avatar
Written by: JJ Wiparina

List of people I've kissed

Do you remember like I do, 
the way we’d jump with giddy— 
Or how we’d grit our teeth,
waiting for something to happen?

Your feeling,
A pulse that nipped the green off my leaves,
like I was holding something in my mouth,
something I couldn’t swallow.

A space between urge & action. 
A pause before the pull, 
where everything hangs, 
and nothing falls. 

A candle-age dream,
showing me how to walk.
A guardian spirit,
with the grace to talk. 

Fishing for a whale,
to break the tide. 

Pockets full of change from the wrong time—
I should trade them like marbles, 
so that in hopscotch, 
I only worry about tripping.