Skin needing salves and cool creams,
skin sleepy with daydreams,
skin smoothed with emulsions,
skin bitten, sweaty with compulsions.
Skin of nosey noses, skin of chucked chins,
skin of pink rashes, of twisted grins.
Skin of the tanned, skin of the bold,
skin bare-templed, saggy and old.
Skin wave-drenched,
skin salt-prickled, cold-blenched,
skin whose freckles ignite,
skin brushed with evening light.
Skin soft with imprints
from elastic of togs,
skin hard with scars
curving over and down,
skin pure as elements
deep in the ground,
skin that yearns,
skin that burns.