Katie Kemple

Walking in the park at dusk

a young man skates 
past me,
dark hair parted,

a chain secures
his wallet
to baggy jeans.

On his baby blue
windbreaker,
the Viagra logo.

A firefly among
gnats, his
luminescent lust

wears the musk
of cut grass,

gives desire
something sweet
to grow on.

Love at the end
of the street
looks like this:

his skates lift off—

jump the curb
into the pitch
of night.

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Katie Kemple is the author of Love in the Key of COBRA, 2025 winner of the Iron Horse Literary Review chapbook prize; and Big Man (Chestnut Review, 2025). Her work has appeared in Frontier, One Art and Sixth Finch. She is the chief poetry officer and co-founder of thepoetryshop.com. More of her work can be found at katiekemplepoetry.com.