what is it that u see in him? (3)

what is it that u see in him

when the final act is over

& you're left standing all alone

when he takes his bow & makes his exit...

jerry butler

what is it that u see in him that u don’t
or won’t see in me? i am taller than him,
i look better than him & more than by half
i am smarter than him. yet he can make yr
nostrils flare, yr bubble butt bounce & make u
wear yr orgasm face for the world to see
u objectified, existing only to
sate his desires, reduced to having no thoughts,
feelings or needs of yr own. what is it that
u see in him & not in me? what jackpot?
pregnancy? std’s? infertility?


©Joseph McNair;2010

a very strange distress (2)

a very strange distress

a hendecasyllabic lament

that love, like god’s breath, cannot be easily
divined, or its meaning made plain; cannot be
scryed except in the crystallized substance of
those infinite interactions ‘tween lovers
who timorously, hopefully reach out or
indifferently withdraw, who exult/exalt
or hurt/debase, who cling possessively to
or dispassionately let go -- or who kill,
is well-known, oft forgotten, & remembered,
too late, in the wee hours of the morning,
& under thin, scratchy blankets of despair.

©Joseph McNair;2010

loving spirit (1)

loving spirit

for olori

every outward or perceptible grace,
every indication, reflective or
direct, of an unconscious purposiveness,
of consciousness & a dense, personal &
collective identity into which i
escape & into which i languish; to which
i return after sleep, fever or trance &
coruscate an ineffable unity
that can only make itself clumsily known
in the aggregate, molecular fabric
of my skin & in these big arms that hold u.

© Joseph McNair; 2010

when a boy falls in love (10)

when a boy falls in love ...

i've heard them say love was a wonderful thing,
something you couldn't hide on a shelf
sam cooke

it’s something that can’t be hidden on a shelf,
under bed or bushel, however one may
try to warp masculine-like around it with
toughness or indifference as bark or skin.
ill-concealed by a not-so-transparent veil
of ignorance, behind which nothing is known
of self or ability, position, race,
ethnicity, sex or gender; where all are
rational, free & morally equal, a
young boy’s love, a wondrous delight, scatters
darkness, deepens shadow; a transient pulse.

© Joseph McNair;2010

effeuiller la marguerite (11)

effeuiller la marguerite

for the oxeye daisy

o perennial prostrate herb
arrayed in white ray or yellow
disc flowers, growing pertly
on stem’s end, unbranched
& sprouted laterally from a
creeping root.

what turn of fate brought u
to these intricate, prehensile
juvenile hands, which one day
may fashion clay creator-like,
or wield a knife assassin-like,
but today

attached to a wistful, moonstruck
african boy sitting close-eyed &

alone in a narrow, pedestrian lane,

behind a graying urban building,

plucking yr petals one by one,

needing to be cocksure

of love.

©Joseph McNair;2009