American Boys

written By

May 28, 2023

Stiff jeans. White shirts. Bare feet.
Candied sweat on glazed skin.
Peach fuzz in a high glisten, sizzling
      under a circumspect sun. 

Tennessee whiskey on the tongue.
A Lucky Strike behind the ear.
Hands gliding through hair and lips     
       chanting
summertime refrains.

Sprawled in the sand, blessed by the breeze,
timid limbs and churning stomachs
      combine
on infinite California shores. 

Sons on the beaches, in unfettered trenches.

Sons in moonlit parks and low-lit theaters,
     in the backs of cars and just-this-once’s.

Author

Brett Atkinson

Brett Atkinson is a secondary school educator and military veteran with a background in English and language and literary studies. Brett lives in Houston with his husband and five golden retrievers.

Atkinson