Pigtails

she emerges from the bobble- cordoned bathing area with her pigtails wet & sticking out like unicorn horns from the back of her head - instantly she's a girl again the shining happy memory of herself as a strong swimmer dancer & singer all at once like a sea monkey queen reacting with water swirled & sequined in the jar for all to see - i've been reading too much murakami not to understand what does drive the mind growing older what cues the eye interprets as "summer holiday": such tropes as chipped nail polish tan lines of a different bikini beneath the current pair we stretched out legs on a gaudy beach towel airport novel open at a random page & left there like the roof of a swiss house on the rocks ... sometimes i forget that i can't speak japanese that this book is just a translation irritating in its americanisms like this endless parade of paris hilton stunt doubles along the beach whose vacuous stares thankfully are hidden from view by their designer fly or wasp sunglasses they couldn't ever hold a candle to this girl in pigtails emerging like reality TV from the water