America According to Lana Del Rey

by Adriana Beltrano

Honorable Mention, Elinor Benedict Poetry Prize,
selected by Diane Seuss

I want painted toenails poolside, not salted but chlorinated,
burnt nose-hair, a yellow-and-blue two-piece, low rise, slim legs
branching from feet made for Only Fans, a portable radio
with AM and FM, shaved pits, heart-shaped sunglasses.

I want plastic pink flamingos on thin rusted stilts, silver
and ruddy, I want them staked into the ground like vampires
and golf tees. I want my dad’s friend to guide my arms, taut,
elbows concave, as I swing back to drive the white ball to heaven.

I want to be wanted, feel it, too. I want all eyes on me all times,
reminding me I am the right type of woman. I want to pose nude,
tastefully, and on my terms, and I want to throw it all away
for a man who has nobody’s back, not even mine.

Adriana Beltrano is a poet from Jupiter, Florida. She was a 2024-25 Jake Adam York Prize finalist and is a Best of the Net nominee. She is pursuing her MFA in poetry at Johns Hopkins University, where she is a managing editor of The Hopkins Review. Her work can be found in The Baltimore Review, Atlanta Review, and HAD.