REVISITING WAIKIKI
She comes back again after thirty years,
feeling as though she's returning
to the scene of a crime. Beach strewn
with oiled sunbathers, seductive waves,
air mattresses, mopeds, sun block,
scent of plumeria and Coppertone, hibiscus,
bright prints, rows of kitschy shops.
At evening, tourists line the streets
dressed to kill (she remembers discos,
a party boat, a boy with such soft lips).
Her reflection in a window, children
trailing behind. Where did she bury
the body, she'd like to know, meaning herself--
sunburnt, chapped--that naive girl.
She comes back again after thirty years,
feeling as though she's returning
to the scene of a crime. Beach strewn
with oiled sunbathers, seductive waves,
air mattresses, mopeds, sun block,
scent of plumeria and Coppertone, hibiscus,
bright prints, rows of kitschy shops.
At evening, tourists line the streets
dressed to kill (she remembers discos,
a party boat, a boy with such soft lips).
Her reflection in a window, children
trailing behind. Where did she bury
the body, she'd like to know, meaning herself--
sunburnt, chapped--that naive girl.
Gee, that's how I feel in Hawaii, sunbunrt, chap, and with sagging flesh in my one piece suit I envy the bodies that in truth I never had in the first place. The Froglady
ReplyDeleteYou said...envying the body that in truth I never had!
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