SKIN DOCTOR ON A NUDE BEACH
Skin Doctor on a Nude Beach
By Carolyn Raphael
No one wants him here,
the white-coated angel of melanoma.
How foolish he looks,
in his long pants, shoes,
and hat, of course—
offering sunscreen wrapped in guilt.
He moves deliberately
from towel to blanket to chair,
asks questions in a diplomatic voice,
invading our Eden,
inviting us to know.
Carolyn Raphael retired from the English Department at Queensborough Community College, City University of New York, after more than 30 years of teaching. Her poems have appeared in journals including The Lyric, Measure, Blue Unicorn, Rattapallax, and on the Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies website for the American Arts Quarterly, where her poem, “Honorable Mention,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poetry collection, The Most Beautiful Room in the World, was published by David Robert Books in 2010, and her new collection, Dancing with Bare Feet, was published by White Violet Press in early 2016.