No nonsense, no bitter and tease, no games for he
who knows how to sit in ease, soaking his bones in a tub full of tunes,
eager to please the senses, not hers but his, alone in his cocoon,
his lair of potions and scents, smiling to his core, through a heart’s lens.
Manhearted he is, easy to see, plain sight, no need to believe
an explanation for every cause, an analysis for every disease.
He’s hard around the edges, tender to the bone, and mean
when it matters, telling it like it is or should be, without making a scene.
No drama, dilemma, duress, or domineering desires to be yours,
he’s content where is, what he knows, and how he keeps score, for
what is a man but his mood, manner, and masculine mimicry, one
more father, son, uncle, brother, nephew, pal and bearded chum.
Blissful fullness, he steams in his own juices, a masterpiece in tile,
mosaic of a man, centuries stained in porcelain, skin of his brethren
swirling about him like bath salt silk and scum, floating atop the womb.
He’s a man from his wrinkled toes to his shit-eating grin, a y to her x,
not a performance, like the band playing in his head, but still play, effects
drilled into the cerebral cortex, the veins of desire, a man-hearted display.
The rhyme play in this poem enchants the craftsman in me, Pam. I love both the writing and the content, like these lines: “He’s hard around the edges, tender to the bone, and mean/ when it matters.” As well as the non-intrusive alliteration & other poetics. Elegant.
Thank you kindly for your thoughtful praise.