Hula-Hoop Girl
 

sprawled out in the grass at a music festival
my teenage daughter beside me
the kind of scene where a lawn chair
would indicate advanced age
     and I’m a liar
feeling nostalgic for the days
when laying in grass was a joy
when the itchiness didn’t matter
when getting upright again wouldn’t be a challenge
when ticks were not a worry
 
You spun in circles
fifty feet away from us
the only entertainment before the music started
regaled in denim bell-bottoms and a flowered top
a hula-hoop flowing from hips to arms to neck
     flawless
a scene that has me feeling nostalgic
although nostalgia indicates presence
I’m estimating twenty years on you
and this scene is indicative of my parent’s youth
 
Your auburn hair
caught in the sunlight
caught in a past that
     we weren’t alive for