or has my sunscreen expired
(because i just found out
in a lapse of adulting
it apparently does)?
i always saw my ability
to take on colour painlessly
as my birthright
for years, i emerged
from tropical vacations
dipped in caramel
yet unscathed by fire
so imagine my dismay
on discovering twin patches
of marbled watermelon
across my back
i must be getting old
the novelty of burning
so bedevils me
i spend hours picking at my skin
until it peels like ashes
from an early cremation
ten years in new york
i too have become
a melanin deficient ghost