why not?

from "blood, love, and boomerangs"
respectfully dedicated to the late Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

because love is stale and sometimes this is all there is

because the edge of the day has worn thin with repetition

because tonight hasn't happened before
it's immediate and unsure

because I want to
because I want you

because of something primal and substantial
that I can't escape for long

because I catch myself thinking about it
in elevators and washroom stalls

because of the excitation of breath

because of your late-night voice on the telephone

because this conversation isn't about words anymore
because things are said without words

because I feel like I've been here before
and there's something I want to remember

because I want to make sure I remember how
because I don't remember who or when

because my guard against myself is down

because there will never be another you --
at least not tonight

because you're not like the others --
but then neither were they

because I want to make some noise
because I want to compensate for the moments of silence

because of quiet and deliberate movement

because of the immediacy of touch

because of the salt taste of sweat at your throat

because there is skin
and flesh is pliable

because the taste of the flesh
is an experiment in sound

because of the way muscle counters muscle

because of the shallow hollow
at your hip where bone and flesh merge

because I've got a secret
and some secrets I can't keep

because I'm learning to tie knots

because I want to surprise you
because I want to be surprised

because of my taste on your mouth
because of your mouth
because there's a trick with my mouth I'm learning to do

because I want to hear you moan when you least expect it

because I'm stronger than you think
because we all have moments of predatory attitude
all have moments when we want to be pursued

because it's less likely to cause shin splints than fast running

because I'm really very tired
but you could convince me

because it's better entertainment than late-night tv

because the night is young
and I mostly am too

because life is short and
death is inevitable but
that shouldn't slow you down

because the body runs out and
then where will you be?

because Keith Haring died when he was younger than I am and
Bob Flanagan wasn't much older

because there is loss and a need to compensate

because some animals mate for life
but humans are rarely one of them

because when there is flesh
sex is inevitable

because whether sinner or saint
we all have genitalia

because it's winter and
I don't want to be cold

because it's summer and
sweat makes skin slick

because of the way your slick dick slips inside me
mercilessly complete and deep

because you're so thin   with luck
you might slip right in

because you don't require batteries

because of candle wax and music
and the living room floor

because the Blue Nile is only a tributary
and your touch becomes an embrace
becomes a kiss

because the sands at night are that smooth
and shape the landscape like flesh

because your arms become an oasis
against anger   against bitterness

because you never said you loved me --
but then you never said you didn't

because I am still an embarrassingly naive romantic at times

because I want to live happily ever after

because fairy tales end too soon

because I've seen this in the movies

because Bacall said You know how to whistle don't you, Steve?
You just put your lips together and blow
, and Bogart's reaction
was so open it couldn't have been acting

because We'll always have Paris

because Anais Nin said Women are more apt to
fuse sex with emotion
   and I believe her

because Dietrich was that exotic
and Ute Lemper performs like a Weimar cabaret star
a reminder that there is nothing new under the sun
that all this cross-dressing   gender bender
transsexually suppressed transgression
buggery   adultery   enema thrill
bound and gagged and leather flagged
has all been done before

because of sex toys and
latex and leather

because there's pornography on the internet
and the back pages of entertainment papers

because the pain of your teeth
causes a shock of excitation to
ripple through my body
just above the skin

because I'm not sure I could eat enough chocolate
to release this level of endorphins

because my nocturnal emissions are too often cerebral

because for years I've been asocial
asexual and enigmatic

because days go by
before I realize I haven't spoken to anyone

because it's too easy to forget the physical

because I want to be in this flesh
but not of it

because the line between fantasy and reality is
such a fragile convention

because the idea of a rigid heterosexual norm
is a modernist construct

because Freud's model is too angular
and I'm not

because if I ever get married I want to do it cross-dressed
I want to wear the tux
you'd look lovely in a delicious swirl of virginal white
don't you think?

because I want to be enveloped in the wings of angels
but you'll have to do for now

because I don't want to wake up alone

because I want to watch you sleep

because of the way morning light catches
in the fine hair of your body

because there is movement and inevitable day

because sometimes I need a second body
just to keep me on the ground