Harvest by Allen Means

when i kiss someone i imagine pressing them into a surface like water

Harvest

by Allen Means¹

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my father stops calling me honey
because boys are not sweet

they are gravel spilling out of open mouths
on the playground

and when i start looking more and more
like a man, he begins to trip

over the gravel
that he imagines

has grown into bigger
and more dangerous rocks

that if he comes too close
may crush something inside him instead

but i was never the kind of boy
that ate gravel or threw rocks

i watched
how honeysuckle grew

on backyard fences
and the brick walls of public pool houses

and in the summer i would sit
in the shade and pluck them

tuck them into mickey mouse beach towels
tied into baskets

or leave them for safe-keeping
in another kid’s hair

like presents or secrets
but now that i am

a man—
when i kiss someone

i imagine pressing them
into a surface like water

picking a honeysuckle
from above their head

and pressing the wet end
into their mouth like a cigarette

assuring them that they can also
be gentle and sweet

in case no one ever did.

1. First published in Sweet Lit, April 1, 2025.