Tan from the Sun

Q. Are you tan from the sun?
A. No, I'm Annie from earth.
-children's joke

Tan from the sun
is slick as a drop;
lollipop man, serene.

Halloo! he calls
down the hairless wind;
he has a little brain

like a ping pong ball;
his fingernail
is lucid as the moon.

Annie from earth
has grit for teeth
and grasses on her chin.

Halloo! she calls;
her shoulder smells
of salt and fuid, stone.

Annie from carth
has twigs in her mouth;
she sleeps in a whitened gown

of bones like lace;
while Baby-face,
old Tan from the sun wakes on.