the skin I love - Louis-Philippe Dalembert

I love skin

cracked skin

stretch-marked skin

skin that splits

stretches folds and doesn’t break

that shamelessly flaunts

its wrinkles

skin that’s faced

a thousand and one wounds

and never surrendered

peeling skin

from so many struggles with life

I love skin as smooth

as a barely opened bloom

skin undefiled

by any scratch

skin with a jet-black smile in the dark

by turns dull and glowing

alabaster and rosy skin

skin restrained

by inexperience mixed with modesty

ready to change texture and hue

at the slightest emotion

skin showcasing the intimate

princess-like skin

in the filthiest mire

courtesan skin sprawled in silk

I love skin steeped

in curiosity and lust

skin that doesn’t make a fuss

that gets so dizzy with pleasure

it can’t save its own skin

creaky skin

that keeps moving

skin like an old carrosserie

seasoned with yesteryear’s luster

nostalgic skin

without bitterness

eternally thirsty skin

that says yesterday but thinks

today more than tomorrow

skin that lives believe me

hic et nunc skin

skin adorned with impatience

drunk always from stirring up the blood

I love skin

that smells of ylang-ylang

skin with the smell of lemongrass at daybreak

or when the day hesitates procrastinates

before tumbling into night

musky skin

smelling like mangoes from childhood

skin with the smell of exotic fruits

like simmering peaches or apples

green tea skin fragrant with elsewhere

skin smelling of sweat

then of bougainvillea

I love skin most of all

that has lived skin

that has joyfully rubbed itself

against a thousand other skins

skin that is skin

I love your skin

---

Louis-Philippe Dalembert (born 1962) Haiti

Translated by: Nancy Naomi Carlson

Source: InTranslation