Big Bad Wolf

I was 6
It was summer
I remember green,
Buttery, lush green grass
Green house
Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” was playing
From somewhere
That song was everywhere that summer
In my neighborhood
Which maybe tells you a lot
Or maybe does not.

In our backyard, the neighbor girl
2 years my senior
Sang along to “Hey, little girl,
Is your daddy home?”
I just liked the guitar and keyboard melodies
Running along the song like a swaying backbone,
The lyrics themselves
Making me think of the Big Bad Wolf.

“I kiss his poster in my room at night,”
She said when the song ended
And that was the first time
Having a crush on an older man
Had ever occurred to me.

Now I remember
It was my mom
Playing the song
From our living room
Windows wide open
Because we never had central air
And “you cool my desire”
Probably whispered to her
Like a spring breath blown to her
Off the waves of the Great Lakes.

Margaret King is a Wisconsin author who enjoys penning poetry, short stories, and young adult novels. Her recent work has appeared in Scintilla Press, Mojave He(art) Review, Unlost Journal, Moonchild Magazine, and The Ginger Collect. She is also the author of the novella Fire Under Water.