A Girl and Her SeaShell Skirt

We are welcomed with song 

Family man! My father smiles at this greeting

Salty sandy ocean sings too

Chlorine & sunscreen 

Smells saturate memory 

Kneeled over the musty pond 

A cool slippery tadpole escapes my grasp  

Purple – grape – pop fizzing on my tongue – It’s hard to find Vimto In Canada  

Under an umbrella  

We gorge ourselves on hot slices of pizza marguerite 

Cheese dripping down the sides 

Tropical trees reaching their palms to the skies in bowing relaxation

My brother climbs them 

Imagination comes alive and a monitor lizard becomes a dinosaur

I am bought a skirt with shells hanging all around the bottom 

The chatter of their movement sends thrills down my back 

We are surrounded by friends 

We make clam chowder and have tea parties 

Hibiscus flowers bloom

Silky sweet petals fan open against my cheeks, tucked carefully behind little ears

At my favorite restaurant I order spaghetti and meatballs

An absolute delicacy 

A local baobab tree is a house, a plane, a spaceship

All knobs, nooks, and crannies  

We climb and climb 

The Sky the limit

In Bungalow Beach Paradise