Self-Portrait As A Popsicle

My icy fingers remember
the lime twins,
fused side by side,
creased down the middle.

Our young bodies too—
their mysterious creases and folds.
The least I could do for you,
my Double Buddy,
was break the popsicle apart,
give you half.

And how we laughed,
our clownlike mouths full of lime slush.
Some called my affect frosty.
But when I kissed you,
right on your green frozen corners,
they would have thought otherwise.

Suzanne O’Connell’s recently published work can be found in North American Review, Poet Lore, Paterson Literary Review, The Summerset Review, Good Works Review and Pudding Magazine. O’Connell was awarded second place in the Poetry Super Highway poetry contest, 2019. She was nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. She received Honorable Mention in the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize, 2019. Her two poetry collections, A Prayer for Torn Stockings and What Luck, were published by Garden Oak Press.