First Taste of Freedom, by Elaine Sorrentino

Bathing Beauties, by Geraldine Tripp (USA) contemporary

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First Taste of Freedom

Look at me,
a big girl standing
with the Zimmerman
sisters at Malibu Beach.
No more frilly-bottom suits
to cover a diapered backside;
this year, grown-up swimwear
hidden under my oversized
tie-dye tee, a stylish birthday
gift from my out-of-state auntie,
the only one who understands
this three-year-old bathing beauty.
Today marks my first solo beach
walk with the cool older kids.
Stay with the girls no matter what
Mom instructs; but shells, crabs,
and starfish are scattered along
the shoreline for me to explore,
and I can’t turn away from seagulls
who nosedive innocent lunchers,
and when I stomp my foot,
the sand becomes a giant squirt gun,
it sprays up here, stomp, and here,
stomp, and here, stomp, stomp.
So much fun on this beach
for an excited little girl who dipped
her sandaled feet into freedom
and has now lost sight of her friends.

Elaine Sorrentino

Elaine Sorrentino, author of Belly Dancing in a Brown Sweatsuit (Kelsay Books, 2025) has been published in journals such as Quartet Journal, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Minerva Rising, Willawaw Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Gyroscope Review, Sparks of Calliope, Sheila-Na-Gig, Poetry Porch, Ekphrastic Review, and Haikuniverse. She is facilitator of the Duxbury Poetry Circle in Duxbury, MA.