I must have looked like a fool,

Walking down the dusty, Mexican streets

In the sunny days of December,

Struggling with the cherry stem

That came off of your Amaretto sour.

All I wanted to do was to make you laugh;

All I wanted was the brief moment

When our eyes would meet

And everything else would cease to exist,

Everything except you and me.

~

My tongue wiggled outrageously,

As we walked passed tiendas [1]

And street children

Selling fruit for pocket change.

I worked the cherry stem,

Pressing it against my cheeks,

Molding it onto itself

So that the ends would meet,

So that the stem that binds them would bend,

So that one end would twist over the other,

Locking in embrace.

~

You laughed at me

When I let the knotted stem

Drop from my lips

To your open palm,

A symbol of our love.

[1] tienda = a store or shop, in this case lined along a busy market street