tiger striped aunties

since when beauty
needs accoutrements

they say here

some

take it to the extreme
as witnessed
on au-naturel negril beaches
but am a moderate

in many ways

***

in college, or was it school
memory is blunt as in not sharp
had followed her
this graceful braided gazelle
fluid, poetic, innocent

vibrant

smiling eyes

and an arrhythmic

walk
and her laughter

no

it wasn't a giggle
(giggles i detest

in men more than young women)

***

she was with a
short, overweight aunty

nursing a

perpetually pregnant posture
in a black and yellow
tiger striped shalwar kameez

her aunti-ji
must be a factor
as i ducked into a book shop