Girl at Sixteen with Lightning (Sorrentino)
Girl at Sixteen with Lightning, by Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006)
The flash of lightning and we see enameled
sitting in a chair her knees together
Joanna Fulmine from Academy St. Clare
shy and perfect in her uniform
O the despair of adolescent boys is mammoth
can she know they worship her in navy blue
they saute themselves in blasphemy in envy
of enameled Jesus at her dazzling throat
The austerities of Latin and geometry
have not made her angular or cold
the sound her silk knees make in crossing them
the softness and sweetness of gelato
The brief clarity of lightning does her justice
she is cut from blue silk in white light
in the dark untouched by its sudden dazzle
despairing boys implore St. Clare
It is her thoughtless grace moons of her fingernails
the body enameled to perfection in its blue
how that serge touches her cool knees
as shyly perfect she pulls down her hem.
O the way she holds her ice-cream cone
the way the cream enamels her silk lips