Lexi Pelle

Quickglow

So what if it’s December? Anyone can stop
in this beach-themed shop to slow turn

in a cool metal booth and Lazy Susan
their bland sugar toward cinnamon—

I do. I want the vacations I can’t afford
to spit on me, coconuty saliva tinged

with glittery toners. I want to watch
the girls in gecko-eyed glasses

crawl into neon coffins and come out
OK. Desire is tenuous as a string

bikini threatening to reveal the parts of me
I haven’t bothered to shave. I can’t stop

my mom from being one Diet Coke closer
to death or my cousin’s husband from

reaching for the gun but I can go
to Quickglow and spring for Level Three:

the one with free lotion and the promise
of a flawless, sunless finish, and walk out

in my sweater, coat, and hat, no one
knowing what I’ve just done.

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Lexi Pelle was the winner of the 2022 Jack McCarthy Book prize. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rattle, Ninth Letter, One Art, Sucarnochee Review and Zenaida. Her debut book, Let Go With The Lights On, will be released in May.