Nailpolish

Hooker Red/Chili Pepper Red
(Professionally Done, Bodega Style)

She was Puerto Rican.

¡Caliente estupenda!

¡Pimienta Picante!
¡Guindilla Pequena!

She worked behind a bar
In Hoboken
Called ‘Red’s’.

The way her lacquered crimson nails
Gripped a cocktail shaker
And poured a cold Martini
Into a frosted stemmed glass
Downstairs in the glow of Red’s
Got to me
More than the vodka did.

She wore matching lipstick.

It wasn’t long
Before I felt those
Garnet nails
Digging in my back.

I discovered fiery Latin Love
Where
At one moment
She was clamped on me
Screaming
In the throes of violent passion.

Her Espanol
Fast and coaxing.

“Jode como un cerdo!”
“Oy, Papi Chulo! Papi Chulo!”

Over and over.

She was very convincing.

Ruby red nails wore me out.
Her stamina was demanding.

The next thing I knew
She was throwing plates at me
Cursing me
In her native language
Threatening

“To put a knife into my throat”

Which I believed
To be taken seriously
By the gestures of her wild hands
Nails flashing like blood
And the objects
Being thrown
Around me.

I stood there
Dodging
Anything within her reach
Wondering what the hell
I had done.

“¡Chica Loca! Chica Loca!”

My Spanish wasn’t that good.

“¡Loca! Chica Loca!”

That must’ve fired her up some more
Because
Before I knew it

I was back in bed with her
Trying to figure out
The Spanish language
And the barriers
That kept us
At such a distance
That needed to be overcome.

Aventura Rojo.



Black Then Deep Plum
(Self Inflicted, Chipped, But Maintained)

She had on black nailpolish
When I met up with her.

Appropriately
I was sporting a black eye
And a jagged scar
With stitches
On my left temple.

A big black eye
That I couldn’t hide
Behind designer sunglasses.

I probably had a concussion too.

Whatever...

I was just happy to see her.
It had been a long time.

I met her in a small riverside town
In New York State.

When her black fingernails
Wrapped around my fingers
And we walked through
The touristy crowds
And ate sushi
Drank cold beer in the warm sun
Laughed
Flirted...

We turned heads...

Me with my screwed up
Bed-head hair
Sticking up
Shiner
And bandages...

And her...

An Italian beauty
With the greatest
Sexiest
Kinkiest dark hair
Tan olive skin
And a killer ass.

I wouldn’t trade that day.

Later on

She changed her nail color to a deep plum
As Fall
Turned into Winter
As the color of the skin
Around my still puffy eye
Turned from black
To purple
To blue and yellow.

Each of us
Knowing how to treasure the sporadic
Days and nights
That we shared together.

As deep plum went back into black.





Clear Coat
(Professionally Done)
(Matching Manicure And Pedicure)


We were on the hood
Of her car
As the light rain fell
Around us.

She had no inhibitions
And neither did I.

She was flawless.

Porcelain ivory teeth
Wavy blonde hair
Pristine white skin
Curves where they should be.

Dressed well.

Always nice heels
That would make her calves taught.

Sexy lingerie.

She was model material.

She was calculated with her appearance
But she was an animal
Sexually.

A paradox.

So there we were
Fucking
On the hood of her car.

I could hear the rain
Bouncing off of the polished paint
Of the Honda Accord.

I could hear the rain
Falling against
The luster of clear coat
As she grabbed me by the hair
And pulled me into her.



Everchanging Bright Funky Colors
(Always Done By Others At
Bi-sexual Girl Nail Painting Parties)

This one...
She was a wild one
And gave me a run for my money.

Her nail colors
Changed as much as her hair
And that’s why I liked her.

She was unpredictable
Hard headed
Determined
And a handful.

Her English accent
Hooked me
Followed by her punk rock loveliness
Big dark eyes
Strong body...

We would wrestle!

Her multi-colored nails
Would grasp mine
And we would tumble around the room
Knocking over my paintings
And furniture

Wrestling for real!

She was a tough one and put up a good fight.

She liked girls too
And was very fond of
This one chick
That had moved up from the South
Somewhere.

She was a knock-out
In a hick kind of way.
Her face had the big wide lips
That I’m fond of
Her two top front teeth
Were large
And had a gap inbetween them.

The three of us hung out a lot
Even made it together
A bunch of times
But then they ended up
Getting an apartment together
And then they started hanging out more
Just the two of them.

They were both slob girls.
A little dirt smeared upon
Seraphic splendor.

It ended for good
At a party.

There were a bunch of us
In the stairwell
Smoking crack
When she took a fire extinguisher
Off of the wall
And sprayed it directly
Into my face
For no reason.

Blind and coughing
I heard her laughing.

It could’ve been the drugs
But it seemed to me
That she was ridiculing me.

I didn’t see her much after that
And she never apologized.

She cut her hair short
And dyed it black.

I got over it
But I missed her accent
In the morning
With croissants and coffee.


French Manicure
With Cut Up Dollar Bill Tips
(Ghetto Fabulous)

I met her in a club
And it was a one-night stand.

We both knew that from the get go.

She kept locking eyes with me.

We ended up dancing the whole night.

I could tell that she was going to be good in bed
By the way that she moved her body.

And she was.

A freak in black skin.

She let me do anything I wanted.

“Except”
She scolded at me one time
When I got too close...

“Don’t fuck up my nails baby!”
“You don’t want to see me turn into a bitch!”

The freak was right.