El Culo de Bettie by April Carter Grant
I. Outside
Like seal skin—
yes, that’s it—
patted dry with tightly woven lint-free cloth,
(stroke)
oiled in perfumed putty and dusted in a frost
of powder,
(stroke)
so fingers warm and lucky enough to feel
and to bow
roll on wheels of a billion tiny pearls.
(stroke)
When it peeks at me from behind leopard fur,
oh, that ass
makes me want occasion to say things like,
“Mischief is standard with this model.”
II. Inside
It’s hot, wet,
and sticky.
The sweat must have me looking like a greased pig.
(click)
Gay Bob’ll have to use an extra big brush
to retouch
(click)
the mess of mush my makeup must’ve become.
“Slight” of hand:
Magic fingers smooth my bumps and oil slicks.
(click)
“Brighten my teeth. Blacken my hair. Heal my scrapes.”
Late tonight,
I’ll rub in cream to eat tar mascara
and stroke red spots left as gifts of leopard.
April Carter Grant Raised in rural Illinois and now based in Los Angeles, April is a self-employed designer, illustrator, and marketing consultant who helps new businesses launch. She also designs the widely respected poetry magazine MiPoesias, and when time allows, she writes prose, poetry, and music.
