Leftover Suntan Lotion
Location
I want summer to bite me.
Send me to bed wet
With tile mosaics on the bottom of pools
Find new ways to break my heart.
By fall I want everything to be
Leftover suntan lotion.
And gold dusted hair.
Every scar you gave me
I received with the gratitude of warmth
That winter taught me.
I want my skin to be
Cabbage Patch Trademark Red.
Throw in the freckles,
I want to be a different kind of beautiful.
Crack me open and lead my from my nest,
I don't want to fly today.
Let me fall. Let me lose myself
For just a moment. I want to be scared
Out in your oceans, in your brown skin,
Your nights smiling like electric air.
Take me by the wrist and lead my fingers
Over summer seashells without a summer ocean to recall
Brave summer jellyfish with brave
Happy summer tentacles.
Show me the meaning of salt water lungs,
Of shirts glued tightly to bronzed skin.
Answer me in the morning with misplaced love
From my air conditioner.
Make me a part of the river's run,
The Wednesday Sundae, and the Thursday
Fireworks never in July. Light me like a
Roman Candle history lesson.
I want to feel you like a thousand mistakes,
All burning and singing the same song:
Hot summer nights in hot summer blood.
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Hey willdurhamwill, I really enjoyed your poem "Leftover Suntan Lotion." I felt overwhelmed at times by the suggestions of emotional and physical abuse, but your details were vivid and your use of assonance was well done. Though it brought up typically pleasant images like shirts sticking to bronzed skin, your work felt more like an elegy. My favorite line was, "Take me by the wrist and lead me over summer seashells without a summer ocean to recall." Thanks for sharing your poetry!