Confident, your head held high, you move with ease, sure-footed grace.
No hint of doubt, you gaze ahead, your body sinuously sways.
Enchanted watchers gasp and sigh, wishing they could share your space.
Your sultry beauty fills the eye, leaves them in a dreamy daze.
Expectant voyeurs congregate, they crowd around an open door.
Knowing you will pass them by, heading for the sandy beach.
Botequims serve cold beer and snacks, giving clients so much more.
This Carioca thrills their souls, a fantasy who seems in reach.
Admirers wait for you each day, they see you as the morning star.
You sashay past, their spirits soar, Rio's Venus here once more.
Coordinated rhythmic flow, Samba diva's who you are.
Ipanema calls you forth, "welcome to my shingly shore."
Self-possessed, at water's edge, you doff your sandals, dip your toes.
Canga drops onto the sand, revealing skin with sun-bronzed gloss.
Paradise claims you as its own, an angel scarcely wearing clothes.
Minimalist beachwear drawing stares, bikini top and dental floss.
Temperate gentle rolling waves tempt you to dive in headlong,
Corcovado's statue watches, stunned by how you blithely glide.
Resurgent seas cause no alarm, well-muscled limbs are sleek and strong,
Plunging under breakers white, cutting through the swirling tide.
Towering over Rio's bay, the Christ Redeemer's seen it all,
yet this Garota's winsome ways from others stand apart.
Extended arms now come together, answering his call,
Silently applauding she who stole his stony heart.
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Author Notes
Botequims = small bars, tavernas.
Carioca = an inhabitant of Rio de Janeiro, male or female.
Ipanema = a district of Rio with an imposing beach front.
Canga = a pareo, beach towel robe.
Dental floss = the girls on Rio*s beaches wear a bottom half with
an adjustable modesty panel on the front and a string which disappears between the buttocks behind. Known locally as dental floss! (fio dental.)
Corcovado = the mountain which overlooks Rio upon which stands the colossal statue of Christ the Redeemer. (name means crooked, reflecting its shape.)
Garota = girl. Original Portuguese song title, A Garota de lpanema.
It is a standing joke in Rio that the day when something really special happens the Redeemer statue, with arms extended, will bring them together and applaud the event. I have chosen to apply that to the Garota*s frolic in the waves.
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