BLUE PLASTIC POOL

it's a saturday morning and all the washers are full
i sit outside the stoop of my parents' store and wait
for those spanish-speaking girls to come and play
while their mom does laundry.
i bring out my barbie dolls and share them with
maria and rosa.
it's funny how it doesn't matter if you don't
speak the same language when you're seven.
it's still fun to play barbies.

on really hot days i invited them to my backyard
and sit in my blue plastic pool.
they brought bubbles so we'd fill the yard
with prismatic globes and watch them float
into the scary old lady's yard next door.

i got a bicycle for my birthday
with flowers on the seat.
they taught me how to ride it.
we would take turns riding it
up and down the sidewalk.

when the big kids came
they turned the hydrant on
but we were too scared to go in it
because it was so strong.
so me, maria and rosa
would sit in my blue plastic pool.

Reviews

[Haunzwürthe]

Not bad at all. Being able to transport someone to the vision in your mind is a talent. I like how you balanced the specific details with the unspoken ones. It lets the reader insert their own memories of how the laundromat looked, smelled, what the back yard looked like, etc. It's very nostalgic and a relaxing read.

[Tate Morgan]

Oh the days of childhood How they tasted so much like Bliss I liked this merideth

[NeiL ArandA]

Poetry in a story telling fashion . Its like reading Reader's Digest when I was young . I wish I could express myself the way you do yours .

[junaid altaf]

i would say it is complete in its description....
well penned

[paddy d daly]

God that touches me so much, the innocence of kids, its how it should be and you capture it so well

[m.s.early]

this is so beautiful: love crossing ethnic and language barriers. what happens when we get older? where do some get their prejudices nourished?

how pure and unconditional is the love of a child. thank you for the vivid imagery.