Got badly sunburned
dozing under the shade of a tree
only to find the shade gone
and after a few hours
i was as good as naked under
the tireless sun.
it cooked me like an egg on the pan.
but it had managed in its genuis
only to cook down one side of my body.
my skin was red as red onion.
as blood thick paint.
as scortched skin burns.
my skin was dry as stand paper.
dry as flame and fire.
partched as a desperate
mouth in some African desert.
one half of my face devil red
the other angel white
the devil side was roaring with its heat.
radiating. along with one armblister red.
if you slapped it would scream
like a wild hyena under the pain
i walked back to the tent
with Paddy and Matron
they had caught the sun
but not as badly as i had
but when we got back to the tent
the intensity of the heat escalted.
the oven turned up.
the full impact of the heat
slapped my body silly.
i was shivvering.
restless.
flushing from grill hot to polar cold
sun stroked and dump struck
and in the middle of some field
i decided to lay low in the tent
drink water rest wonder
how foolish I could be
and the sun so obvious
and me so oblivious
falling victim to myself again
…days later, home now,
the sun burn still burns but
at a cooler flame and my devil side
is beginning to peel
red raw
but now it begins to peel
like fish scales
like an apple
like crumbs
like an ancient painting
like skeleton…
for now I’m hiding out in my room.
waiting to heal learn painful truths
from small mistakes i have made
while being 6ft tall thin giddy and wired