covers me in bright tropical colors
everblooming in soft cotton gardens 

uncovers my boundless blue sky
tempers the UV-riding sunlight to shore

comes with rum runners, salt breezes
and worshipful waves lapping my feet

wherever I wear this shirt, an ocean is
and ukuleles strum songs of hope

______________________________________________________________________
Mike Wilson is the author of Arranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic, (Rabbit House Press, 2020), political poetry for a post-truth world. His work has appeared in many magazines, including Amsterdam Quarterly, Mud Season Review, The London Reader and The Ocotillo Review. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Image credit: Valentina Capetanopulos (find more from Valentina on Instagram at @vcapetanopulos)