Spirit of the Man
Self portrait by rdfrank on Flickr.
Click below to hear me read this poem.
From files and piles, I select you
Embodiment of potency and strength
No identity this sepia tone fantasy
Merely a torso of earthy delights
Of lustful thoughts I should be ashamed
Deeming you to less than the art you are
But this portrait of tenuous rippling strength
Makes my breath short and my heart race
Happy my tongue, were it the shadows
That swim between sinew and brawn
Or heaven to be the soft light
Caressing your sleek and supple skin
My belly burns with carnal hunger
As I struggle to be intellectual
I beseech your artful image
Relate to me more than sexual
I do you a sweet injustice
With these visions in my mind
But would readily trade them
To know the spirit of the man inside