These Strange Outcrops

This is my second poem from These Strange Outcrops, 2020. The anthology is edited by Nancy Jin and Rosalind Moran.  For a while I was wondering how to finish this one until the students came along and finished it for me!

Makeover

I want to bask in brilliant light.
No athlete wants bronze.
Typical, the way they treat women.
Left out in the cold, teeth chattering,
arms enclosing frozen breasts.
This frosty wrap won't catch
anybody's eye.
I'm hardly seen in these shadows
as people rush in and out
of the gymnasium.

A bus stops. Schoolgirls tumble out.
Stop, stare and circle.
One has a supermarket bag.
They giggle. Let's do it, says another.
Takes out a fake fish tail.
Ties it round my waist.  Arranges
the silvery scales over my legs.
I'm stunned  by the way it gleams.
Isn't she amazing?
I'd die for those curves.
Quick, get your phones.

When I hear that,
I feel condensation
over my cheekbones begin to melt
and drip down my neck,
although it's still
midwinter.

_____________________________________________
Guy Boyd, 1981. Swimmer. Australian Institute of Sport.