Max thanks cheers hey what's this 'red light therapy' sounds dodgy? Gosh
those days when as kids we used to pull strips of sun burnt skin off in
trails - then later all those beautiful bodies on display phew so exciting
for a home town boy!!
What's BCC? Ah those memories and hopes
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Max Richards
Sent: 22 July 2015 15:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: 'The Age of Sunbathing'
The Age of Sunbathing
occurred after my parents'
generation, swathing
themselves in skin-protecting
clothes, preferring shade,
under parasols, erecting
arbours and gazebos,
admiring complexions
they called English Rose.
My peer group wanted tan,
minimal swimming gear,
laughed at sunburn, peeling skin,
joked about the midday sun.
So we baked by pool, ocean,
riverbank - on exhibition
our full-length narcissism -
brow, back, chest, thigh, tum, bum.
Walking the park this hot summer
I see few fanatic tanners,
yet shopfronts nearby say: you're
safe in our suntan studio.
Sun Tan City, Desert Sun, Tropical Tan
on Queen Anne (that's a hill
suburb near me in Seattle).
There's Rainglow Airbrush Tanning,
Cactus Club Tanning! (ouch?) -
red light therapy, the Ergoline
tanning bed - while warnings come
against binge tanning, skin
damage, melanoma.
I asked my doctor, told my story -
Celtic genes from furthest north -
sunbaked Kiwi turned Aussie.
The two top skin cancer countries!
Zap with the liquid nitrogen
against my suspect bits of skin!
Take that BCC to the surgeon!
Cryotherapy or the knife!
He puts my ear to sleep - hold still -
not many stitches. Wear a hat,
sunblock, stay indoors, stay well.=
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