Hot chili pepper body,
curvy torso,
plumb breasts,
bird of paradise head,
peacock-fancy hair dress,
and fish tail served over crisp lettuce bed.

A tempting sea nymph,
I dance on stone plate.
Roasted pimento scents the air.
Like in flies,
these compound eyes
watch multiple realities at once.

Go ahead,
try to eat this sabe-lo-todo
who grew up next to the asbestos plant,
breathing fine glass,
sweating pesticides,
head sprayed with DDT for the lice.

Published Source:

Masque, Mariel. “Genesis, Birth of a Poet, and Self Portrait,” 50 Over FiftyPoetryAnthology, edited by Ann Davenport, Quills Edge Press, 2018.