Modem Flirting
tease doesn’t work
any more
yeah there was a time
when a photo of a man
in tight pants
you know the ones
that fired the imagination
with hefty contents
enough to get me off
<>
that was a time when
I was young
inexperienced
dreaming of what
that contents would be
the sound it would make
as it was released
from captivity
<>
that was a time when
being queer
was unsavoury
illegal
edgy
one was an outlaw
in fearful closets
leafing through
body builder magazines
trying to hold the flashlight
with one hand
the magazine in the other
& wondering how to jerk off
<>
these days
if photo of a man
in tight pants
didn’t lead to a one of the contents
or better yet
a video of him handling
that contents
while one sits in a coffee shop
we scrolled through
for the next hefty contents
wondering if there’ll be one
worth jerking off to
<>
imagination is killed
by this endless
fascination with hairless abs
dicks that are slabs
torsos without heads
so that if one meets up
with the real thing
we are disappointed
in the camera angle of reality
the clarity of real light
<>
we’ve stopped being outlaws
& become
men who don’t want to waste time
flirting
they’d rather hold a pic of a dick
in their hand
than risk the disappointment
of the real thing
One of my earliest sexy photo memories is a picture in a travel magazine of a smiling Caribbean fisherman, shirtless but in shorts snug shorts, putting a net up too dry. It was clear that the catch of the day was in those shorts. I kept that picture hidden in a drawer for years. Taking it out when I needed a little inspiration. My shameful secret.
For decades, until the digital revolution, one could only get ‘personal’ nudes by being a home developer – companies that developed film were requited by law to destroyed all nudes or reported them to the authorities. The same for photos of men kissing, being affectionate in an unsavoury manner. The Polaroid wave ended the dependence of developers or cramming into photo-booths & hoping the curtains stayed closed while you & your ‘friend’ changed positions between flashes of that camera. There are now sites & even coffee-table books devoted to those archival sexy photos.
Now decades later there remains no secrets to hide or that can’t be revealed by a fansonly link. Some m2m dating sites now have an option for ‘safe for work’ thanks to the ease of revealing all. Who wants a nosy co-worker glancing over your shoulder as you scroll through an ‘Italian Sausage’ dating site.
I can’t say that I miss the fearful closet but I do miss the loss of mystery, of discovery, of surprise.
TOpoet 