The Beauty Shell
BY LYNNE THOMPSON
Think Beyoncé’s “Lemonade”
Belle as beast
Eel as style
Bats testy
Best lastly
Bluely astute —
as bull
as beetle
as Bey
as butte
Beauty as lute
thus beauty as lush
Late lethal
Lust salty
She’ll eye
She’ll tally
Yes stately yet stealth
Yes steely yet sly
Hey lathe —
[she taut]
Hey sleuth —
[she tale]
He heel
He that
She bluesy
She ballsy
She byte
She shall
Source: Poetry (May 2017)