survival

finding the courage
to use the
words and images
we suppress
(don't deny)
so that my phrases fumble, shock,
and glide
like bodies, fingers, and tongues
isn't easy

long ago, watching a group of men
being men, I decided that
we're animals playing human
designer labels, cubicles, mortgages--
saying things like 'have a good evening'
bowing down to tedium
when what we want
is to be in our own skin,
pressed against
another naked
body, connected

darwin knew
what most won't admit,
you can't fight biology

we are built for fucking,
and nature wins
in sex and death--
origins to orgasms

pleasure binds us
interlocking parts
long for interlocking
moisture
helping things slide
hips swivel
legs wrap
backs arch
arms brace with clenched fists
torsos thrust
(we look ridiculous)

pressure builds & releases
the world disappears
(maybe that's why we do it)

nothing matters but this--
a few seconds of
'oh my god'

a glimpse of the afterlife,
even for a non-believer