Vanity Never Said Take Off Your Clothes Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

In the hot sun when bathing in the best swimsuit,
vanity did say, show it to all around and swing,
a little so all can look at you. Lover of life, on
a sunny day at the beach. Vanity should have spoken
to the quiet in you, and told you to wear the sun tanner
at a high level of the rays that would later land you
in hospital, with melanoma, for it loves those who roast
themselves bare.

Vanity said look for the show, and find it and then told
melanoma the same, but in a whisper so that you would not
hear. Next time you go into the sun, know how you will shield
yourself from bites that are invisible, and taste as nice as
sunbathing, for a beast lurks under the rays that tickle your
skin, the way your lover does. And if you can cover up do, if not
with just the oils from the torrid places. There are no 'if onlys'
in the land of melanoma. Melanin queens only survive to tell the story of those who passed away.