the nature of desire
my friend marion said that desire and sex
were silly topics of conversation
she said that grown-ups should not have to discuss
something that came so naturally
and was such an essential part of the day to day life
and of course
my friend marion was right, as she often is
but this is not a perfect world
we live in fear of sex and desire
we bury our heads in boxes of sand
in magazines we will not admit buying
but someone does
we make fuck films and then write articles
saying that no one should see them
but who does and why
we are a society of hypocrites
so desperate for the touch of skin
and frightened by our desire
that we emasculate ourselves
at every opportunity
the tenderness has been tricked out of us
and we do not know why
the tenderness has been tricked out ofus
and we do not know how to get it back
we are left with only the longing
and some hope
that it too
will not go away
Copyright© michael dennis/Pulp Press Book Publishers 1988