Magic

This drafty barn was our castle
Its creaking loft the ramparts
From whence we boldly repulsed
Round bale giants
Holstein dragons
Cornstalk soldiers

Its blocks of bound straw were oak tables
Or gilded chairs
Or servants
As befitted the king and queen
Of a vast cornfield kingdom

Those long summer days
Before dreams became ambitions
Before ambitions became goals
Before goals became plans
We were invincible
And these fields stretched forever
And this barn was magic
And we needed nothing
Nothing

You are not now the girl you were
Nor I that guileless boy
And this barn now seems
So small
So old
So brown
And we feel so weak
Mere adults without swords or crowns
Drawing scant sustenance from nostalgia
Where there once was magic

When you kiss me I wonder
Are you trying
To reclaim something lost
To fill the awkward silence
To replace old memories
This unchaste touch seems
So out of place here
But your lips are warm

You taste of things
Even the king and queen never dreamed
Of clothes sliding off shoulders
Of the breeze raising bumps
On smooth skin
Of bare legs intertwining
Of straw prickling naked buttocks
As two desperate bodies
Struggle to briefly complete each other

Later
When thirsts are quenched
When breathing has slowed
I look down at you in the straw
Your skin glistening
Your breasts still heaving
And I see you smile
Satisfied
And there is magic