A smack of translucent jellyfish quiver
like silicone implants on the shore.
Tropical parrots squawk lime green gossip
in the palms. At daybreak, a porno flick
full of silicone implants
is being filmed at the Hollywood Beach Resort pool.
The porno director flicks open his palm pilot
and the actors eat soft-serve between takes.
Tourists buy film at the Hollywood Beach Resort
and snap their kiddies in the same pool
in which the actors ate soft-serve
a few hours earlier. One father
snaps his kiddies until the film’s spool
is up. One mother invests in a henna tattoo
a few hours later. The father has to be
reassured it’s a whim, nothing permanent.
One mother invests in a henna tattoo
as tropical parrots squawk lime green gossip.
A tattoo artist reassures her—nothing permanent.
A smack of translucent jellyfish quiver.
Denise Duhamel’s most recent books of poetry are Pink Lady (Pitt Poetry Series, 2025), Second Story (2021) and Scald (2017). Blowout (2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is a distinguished university professor in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami.