In preparation for teaching summer school, I am digging through old files on my computer. In doing so, I came across the outline for a blog I wrote last August about a trip to Texas. In it, I promised a poem I had written while observing vacationers at the pool, but I know I never delivered. Since my blog is in serious need of an update, I located my poem and am posting it now. Since we're enjoying 100 degree weather in NC right now, this poem fits well :). PS - I hate the title (Kellie Pickler can have this one), but I can't think of another, so feel free to make suggestions.
Red High Heels
A summer day
hazy and overcast
old pop plays on rusty speakers
people with nowhere to go
and nothing to do
lounge at a public pool
Teenagers cluster in the shade
skimpy bathing suits and IPods
Gossiping
Single women in their late thirties
loose skin spilling out of
once sexy bikinis
text on trendy cells
Twenty something men
dip into the pool
droplets of water shimmer on defined abs
and drip from gelled hair
they towel lightly hoping to be
noticed by the teens or singles
either is fine
In the middle of this cliche
strides a woman
52 and pear shaped
hips bludge against
a black one piece
the sales girl defined as "slimming"
her body, the product of
low metabolism and motherhood,
won't be noticed by anyone
But on her feet glisten red high heels
they click across uneven pavement
and pool water
mostly ridiculous
but unpreditable and daring
like coloring outside the lines
a bright spot on a
dreay, boring, typical day
