Ten times that I have asked you to
take a walk with me
on Autumn feet-- volcanic heals
between the leaves that blush
like boxes of raisins.
1.
I'm thinking about the creek
in September and crossing a field
with a backpack full of colored pencils.
2.
I'm thinking about how other kids
had soccer practice and teased that
you were my boyfriend.
3.
We played soccer with tangled-- 
twigs and rotted logs pulled
from the creek like Excalibur.
My brother was as competitive 
as a stone at the bottom
of the stream-- wrapped
as a talisman in thin Maple
leaves like grape leaved antipasto.  
4.
My neighbor was my brother.
My brother was my knees
and my toothpaste.
5.
We tried not to talk about death
but it always came up.
6.
We made up karate.
7.
We made a bridge
and it was gone after winter
so we lost our socks in the trees
like lingerie on teddy bears.
8.
It seemed like no one else knew
what melancholy was.
9.
We ate melon on the porch
from my mother's steel bowl
that my brother wore like
an army helmet
10.
We went to battle, juice heavy 
on our brows-- each morning.