Spring Break - In Memory of Jennifer

spring break, daytona beach 2000

pink string bikinis and smells of coconut lotion

mix with sweat and melt on me as I lay on

my red and white coca cola beach towel

with sand in my wet hair and salt on my lips.

i think of my parents sitting at home

in their wooden chairs around the dinner table

praying nothing bad will happen to their baby girl.

as if knowing that she is being carelessly

poured into the blender with thousands

of other college students

ready to mix margaritas and

taste the beach on her innocent skin.

meanwhile the sun bakes me to a medium well

as reggae beats synchronize with my heart.

the sand creates a mold for my body

which is feeling a new freedom and peace making it

easy to forget about my parents.

i let the ocean waves sing me to sleep only

to be disrupted by beer cans and camcorders held by

fat old men with fish bellies and drunken slurs

“Shhhhhhow Yuuuuur Titzzz”