Doralice

Lucy Ton That

Gilberto plucks his strings with care
while the window lends a trembling sunlight.
I thread a lather of soap through your hair,
to keep you close and get you right.

When we dance like this, I don’t mind if you step on my toes
as long as you slip the bar soap down my tailbone like a saxophone
as long as the curtain of beaded drops shimmers low, and I can scat
to the radio like no one else is home–

I saunter towards the sun in Portuguese
and he clucks his tongue back at us,
Chee-chee-chee—ding-ching-ching
But you
put your finger to my lips—hush.

Lucy Ton That is a student at Yale University majoring in English.

ABOUT THE ART | Gaze by Lizzie Conklin, 2024. Lizzie Conklin is a student at Yale University.