Kool-Aid

You tasted of kool-aid in the summer of my youth. A sparkling flower plucked in the prime of its bloom. You tasted so sweet in those days. Your words were even sweeter, dripping off your tongue like honey from the comb. You spoke like the angels sing. You kissed me like I was the only heart you had ever held.

And I fell for you. I fell in love with your kool-aid kisses and it would be forever summer.

You tasted like past lovers in the autumn of my youth. The leaves beginning to yellow and bloody in the waning light. You tasted of familiarity and old memories. Your tone had changed, no longer as sweet, but familiar to me. You spoke like fairy tales, comforting. You kissed me like I was someone you once knew.

And I loved you still. I fought for the peace we had held, like lightning bugs, at the end of summer.

You tasted like bitter fruit in the winter of our youth. Our hearts lay like roses beneath the snow. You no longer kissed me in the twilight of our relationship. Your words were few and the silences more telling than any word. You spoke like the shovelful of dirt on the casket of our love. The last kiss you gave me was like a needle through my heart.

And I loved you still. Though we fell apart, crumbling like the words we said when you tasted like kool-aid.