BEAUTY RITUAL

we’d crowd to smell her neck
oh yeah     that’s the one
to the blare of bob marley
we got a party tonight
julie sprayed her perfumes
miro     he’s going to go for that
hips swishing    we traded clothes
atierno    you cannot wear that
mumbi’s clothes came from paris
silk and linen    soft scented
jeri dressed and undressed me
try this colour    feel this fabric
silk purred against my hair
sending sparks into music

during slow songs 
i rubbed oil between rows and rows
of braids on mumbi’s scalp
we massaged each other
bodies spread on the bed   
jeri flirted with the mirror
moving shoulders to the beat
when the music got fast
mumbi  jumped up
dark hips wrapped in white
judi waved shirts   purple satin
yellow silk    even while she danced

lost in the swish and thump
of dance    sometimes
we forgot the party
we’d order pizza     savor
steamy slices    our bodies sprawled
admidst piles of color
wet towels and silk

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Published in the Women Artists Datebook