7. Hotel Pool and Deck, Taken from West. Senator Hotel Apartments, 1201 Collins Avenue, Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Fry an egg on the sidewalk
Burn your feet in the sand
The waves are massive, the arms get tan.
Watermelon is mealy; sorry, I don’t like it
Nor the cake made into a flag
Just give me strawberries and vanilla.
Ants all over the picnic
And food poisoning in the sun-hot salad
Honey, there’s sand all over your hand.
A float dressed up like the Statue of Liberty
Horses leave their droppings
As they follow the marching band.
There’s the car, open the trunk.
Carry a blanket to the park.
The fireworks go off at dark.
Hotel pool is an all-day event.
Walk to the snack bar.
Someone there to fall in love with, so
Tonight, wish on a star.
Stephanie Brown is the author of two books of poetry, Domestic Interior and Allegory of the Supermarket. Her work has appeared in six editions of The Best American Poetry and she has work forthcoming in American Poetry Review.
