At the Villa (October 29, 2016)

We jumped into the water, and whoosh!
I jumped to be born again,
I wanted to see the world as an Egon Schiele painting,
It was cold because it is already autumn,
Yet you said, "Drink vodka, it actually makes you feel warm."
It did, and then some people arrived
And one of them wore a bathing suit,
But I could only have eyes for your friend,
I watched him and I wanted him,
And I had him.

You jumped into the water, whoosh!
You jumped in to feel freedom,
You wanted to see the world as a gorgeous gazelle,
It was cold, autumn has already come,
And I didn't say anything really.
And the boys were here and you said
"Are they gays? All of them?"
But your friends were playing,
He watched me, and we did sleep together for a while.
Then he moved to the floor and told me, I have a pain in my back.

He Wouldn't Tell Me His Name

He wouldn't tell me his name,
This man who had lived ten years abroad.
He had married at a young age
But his wife didn't like sex.

I think of that kiss,
The moments after,
I was hooked.
He was my equal and I want no other.

January 2016

Looking Good and Feeling Fine (Christopher)

Occasionally the house phone rings;
Grand guffaws of black bakelite
(the room reverberates, the windows rattle
as in an earth tremor or the formation of a new star)
And I wonder if it could be you,
Since you're the only person who has the number.
I answer as I always do,
"A.B.'s pension for the weary-and-worn,
Available with good nightly rates,
Only if you're looking good and feeling fine
And if you're going to talk to me about how
The buildings look like holograms in the thin 7:00am air
And dance like the Eiffel Tower on ecstasy."

But it isn't you,
It's a woman with a wrong number
Or a telephonic salesperson sitting,
With a headset, far away.
"This is Marwa with you, good sir.
This is Egypt with you, good sir.
Christopher is far away,
He's looking at the blue sea from an emerald coloured headland
And there is magic not mystery, fairy wells not feluccas."
It's high summer here and there aren't any holograms,
The sky is so solid and blue you couldn't pierce it with a knife.
There is nobody walking naked down the hall,
Looking good and feeling fine.

July 2014

I don't think I can take that much pleasure

I don't think I can take that much pleasure,
It's too much and the memory of it lingers too long.
I don't think I can allow you to take me to such heights of ecstasy,
Out of my own skin,
To lay with you as a woman lays with a man is too much.
To feel you overpower me is my greatest desire,
To feel you inhabit me is the daydream of my afternoons.

I don't think I can take that much pleasure from you again,
It leaves me longing for more.

I've Heard it Said

I've heard it said
In ancient books
That travelers to Araby are rewarded with tears...

Flesh to flesh, manhood to manhood.
That gift you gave me, fresh as blood in my memory!
But travelers to Araby are rewarded with tears...

I loved you, my weakness found repose
In your embrace,
But travelers to Araby...

So now I play Faure this Christmas time,
And drink, and smoke and remember those nights
Of sweet sanctuary in Araby...

Adrift now, lost, the sea all around me,
Lost, lost,
Araby...

The look that I need

I saw a look in your eyes,

I saw it a number of times.

Extremely tired eyes, red.
Very dark they were, intense and shrewd...

Exactly the look that I need! 

I didn't see it for a while now,

Not since I told you that you're not welcome here...

Though in fact you were very welcome.

Welcome to look, welcome to love, welcome to hate,

Exactly the life that I need!

Young Ares

Had I known yesterday morning

That I would write a poem so soon after the event,

Had fate warned me of such a thing

I would not have believed it.

Last night I slept with Ares,

A young Ares.

We talked of dogs and cats,

Of music and beer,

He was mine for a night and I

Explored every part of his body

And he did mine.

Oh rapture, explosive rapture!

At last he drifted into sleep,

So soon after the event,

And I looked at the perfect boy,

And he awoke and said "it's time to go,

For it's 5:00 and my father will kill me.

I'll tell him a lie, that I was bowling

And with friends, and I'll see you again so soon,

And I fell asleep on the couch and

I think he'll believe."