the skin under
all skin is all
white seen skin
is skin deep none
is white pink
is blood showing
through almost
transparent thin
skin blood as in
on our hands
protected by gloves
laws guns while
brown tan to almost
black protects from
sun that burns
us red-handed us
Martha Collins is the author, most recently, of the book-length poem Blue Front. She is currently editor-at-large for FIELD magazine. Her sixth book of poems White Papers is due out from Pittsburgh in 2012.