They were allergic to sunlight | poem

poetry

At secondary school

there was this girl, Sara

she was allergic to sunlight.

Her skin bubbled like an egg

cooked on car bonnet.

Milk white flesh

for a time

I had imagined fondly

until diagnosis

popped boy lust

as though balloon

full naked mother images.

In greenhouse heat classrooms

on blue days of adventure

she would itch somewhere, indoors.

It wasn’t easy for this …