Float

FLOAT
by April Halprin Wayland

The thing I like about summer
is when it’s still hot
and we are still playing Marco Polo in the apartment pool
and there is still daylight left when Daddy comes home

The thing I like about Daddy
is when he towels us off
and we change fast
and he jingles his pockets as we walk to the Ice Cream Shop

The thing I like about root beer
is when I touch my hot cheek to the cold glass
hear the bubbles rustle
get a whiff of

creamy vanilla pillows floating in a root beer pool…
and the straw
is almost
to my lips

published in Cricket Magazine June 2000