COSTUMED
by Sherry S.

In humid Hawaii
it is never not summer
in the coffee shop.

A day before Halloween
tall drinks of bare legs shimmer
and stop at short shorts
below barely-there tops.

The wearers are unaware
of their creamed-coffee limbs,
their tan chest, back,
and stomach skins,
native to them,
unchanging through
each muggy season,
the taken-for-granted smooth
covering they were born in.

Their glory greets
my visiting eye.
Here this autumn week
from the mainland,
I'm confoundedly confined
in a year-round costume
that shifts from flaky pastry
to bumpy muffin in a changing
combination of red-mango,
pink-passion-fruit, pine-
apple, and pumpkin skins.