Summer Was Made of Girls

Poem · Published in GIRLiDIOT Magazine Issue 3 · 2026

Glitter was our hobby

Mermaid tails our legs

Animal print tankinis 

Sewn in our skin with thread

Crisp, fresh air shaped our lungs

Hair laced with grains of salt

Fingernails were made of dirt

Chipped paint and pastel chalk

Our feet, our soles, stained green with grass 

Skin radiated sun 

Guts composed of popsicles

Who knew we would become…

—

Girls who breathed smoggy air

And washed away the dirt

Bikinis became solid black

The threads were cut (it hurt)

We couldn’t swim the seven seas

We couldn’t see the glitter

We barely let the sun soak in

Replaced by salt and bitter

We hid away our bodies

Buried in the sand

The colors and the whimsy 

Blended into bland…

—

Breezes soften smoggy air

A clearing in the distance

Of subtle pastel colors

Saturation thickens

Nights of wine in sippy cups

From seeds to buds to flowers

Go back to bed and dream sweet dreams

The sparkles the salt encounters

Emerging from the grains of sand

To the sea we’re led

We’re searching for the needles

And sewing back the threads