Saratoga Summers
By Nancy Muldoon
Endless summer days
The sweet, intoxicating smell
Of suntan lotion
Ice filled glasses of Cokes
Lemonade stands during racing season
The daily pilgrimages to Five Points
For bubble gum and baseball cards
Front porch chats and backyard barbeque’s
My face buried in a Judy Blume book
Riding my bike along the Avenue of Pines
Swimming at Peerless Pool
On White Street
Awaiting the familiar and distinctive sound
of Grasso’s Italian Ice Truck
True intimacy with girlhood friends
Before puberty and boys would
Come to claim and corrupt us