John Yohe

Blue Nude

I always wanted to paint you blue
not with a brush
but my hands—
scooping paint in fingers
and smearing it over your body

I say always
but another boy had already done it
which is how I got the idea:
from you
when you wrote about it in the present tense
twenty-five years ago
so it would be nothing new
nothing original
it wouldn't be the first time

though I would do it better