Can a girl wear red on her wedding day? 
Such a scandal would weigh heavy
Against convention. Why Red?
New starts should employ symbols,
Not white lace or  promises, but real.  

Day was hot, lunch bell about to ring,
He laughed and offered a bite of a red
Popsicle in his strong fingers, a wink
Justifiying his not so shy grin
He was next year up, cool, jaunty.

Trying not to, but failing, I kept staring
At lanky length, curly hair, green eyes.
Despite knobby knees, barked shins,
Stringy hair and a broken tooth, a dream
Inside sprang from the air, I guess. 

When he surrenders, and doesn’t quite
Know how it all happened, red might
Toss a hint to my tall, handsome dream
Of a day when a five cent ice doomed 
Him to a capture he never suspected. 

K. Bruce Florence