Latino families line the beach with bar-b-que

i arrive with my hoops

put down a dozen and two boys and ten girls step up

dark and beautiful hair, spindly kid bodies 

and eleven hula hoops go up immediately, effortlessly, even before conversation

but one girl says i cant do this and another says yes you can its like that dance

the washing machine

and then all twelve are up

(that good old aesthetic bloom of group hoop)

and we talk for a while

one says learning tricks is kinda hard like learning english was for her

then big bellied papa grabs one and shows everyone how a hula hoop is done

with grill tongs in hand