I snipped the strings holding
the clouds in the air
and when they brushed 
kisses to your head,
you exhaled cotton candy,
and I fell in love
with your sugar-candy
sweetness.

The bubbles swimming 
around your words 
from the soda pop
in your hand makes it sound
like we’re underwater.
I laze past turtles and starfish
to wrap a finger 
around the mermaid strands
of your hair,
the ones you always insist
you lost when you were seven. 

I pull lollipops from your pocket,
licorice from your lashes,
sprinkles from your wrinkles,
gumdrops from your unfurled palms--

I press them to your cheeks
to watch them bloom roses,
picking out the thorns
before they make you bleed--

And as you smooth blush-petals into your skin,
oh, sugar,
you’re effervescencely beautiful.

Shhh,
yes
you are.

Jaden Goldfain is a junior pursuing a B.A. in Writing from Point Loma Nazarene University. Her work has appeared in Blue Marble Review, Ice Lolly Review, Foreshadow Magazine, and elsewhere. She loves Jesus, her friends, and Stranger Things. Twitter: @j_goldfain