Star Smelled Like Milk

He would look forward
To seeing her
Every time he had to visit
The Bronx with his mother
To see his aunt Lilly

Her name was Star
A twelve year old
Fifth grader
Who lived across the hall
From his aunt

Star was the most beautiful girl
That he had ever seen
And the only one
Who ever noticed him
Let alone spoke to him

Star was from Puerto Rico
And everything about her was exotic
Her name, her hair, her eyes, her voice

Sometimes when his mother was busy
Talking to Star’s mother and his aunt
The two of them would sneak into Star’s bedroom
To curl up into each other’s arms
To cuddle and to share their first kisses
Over and over again

It was heaven
It was paradise
And Star smelled like milk

Her gentle kisses
Made him flush with a kind of fever
He loved to stroke her hair
And her slender arms

Such adventures were always a secret
And only lasted
Until their names were called
By their suspicious keepers

And then it was off to roller-skate
The two of them
Hand in hand
Down the steep hills of the Bronx
Their steel wheels growling like jet engines
Sending sparks of stones and gravel
In their wake

If times like these
Could only last forever
Wouldn’t that be grand?

j.h.markowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2011