Summer Conversations in April

summer conversations in April
unglue the bookends between
weekends and weekdays
Calvin and Hobbes adventures
through backyard forests
bare feet in clover like when we were 10
remove the clothes of adult professions
fold up the faces of waiters, lawyers,
and corporate drones
stick them in a drawer
with fake smiles and name tags
and flip on cartoons
let milk soggy cereal
slide across tile in white socks
and don’t let mom
catch us with water guns in the house…
bugs, garden hoses, unleashed dogs
and summer baseball
short an outfielder and a catcher
we’ve forgotten when the civil war started
how to spell "obsequious"
or the square root of 121
left them behind
to make room in our heads
for sleep over ghost stories
tree house constructions with rope swings
games of ding dong ditch
and water balloon slingshots

neighbor’s cats hate boys
before they chase girls instead
and change the content
of summer conversations
from skinned–knees
and expeditions to rooftops
to kisses,
pretty nothings,
and shaking hands on feminine kneecaps
while boyish stories fade
until sons long to hear them