When she stepped out of the shower
In pale wet skin
And splendor

She wore water like a queenly robe
Dripping *******
Made of gold and treasure

Such beauty deserved
To be inscribed
Something no man should forget

In case I couldn’t memorize the bite of her
Kiss
The trembling release of her depth

In case I might forget the flavor of  her
Cries
The  excited rasp of her  breath

I needed a photo of that naked pout
A vision
Never to forget

“Don’t take my picture,”
She warned me
In ferocious warrior tongue
Daughter of Nordic barbarians
Beauty unlike anyone

What did she think I would do
With the image she might surrender?

Sell it to the highest bidder
For thirty pieces of silver?

Send it to perverts and *** addicts
Specialists in self-pleasure?

Post it on church walls
So celibates might be tempted?

Raise it upon a flag
For an entire nation to be offended?

“Don’t take my picture,”
She warned me
In ferocious warrior tongue
Daughter of Nordic barbarians
Beauty unlike anyone

But I defied her fierce instruction
Spit from heroic luscious lips

Picture snapped
In a flash

Naked beauty captured
At last

And

Never saw that warrior again.

You’re a 3AM
Wake up call
With another sob story
About the latest boy
Who pumped you
Then dumped you
And left you
In a sweaty lonely pile
Upon another
Empty bed

And you cry
Baby girl tears
All over my phone
And you wonder why handsome
Boys
With shining white  teeth
With full heads of curly black hair
With six-pack stomachs
And  tight muscular
Rear ends
Can not be more like
Mature
Older
Men

“Just like you,”
Baby girl says
“Just like you.”

And you cry
Baby girl tears
All over my phone
And you wonder why reckless
Boys
Who party all night
Who down countless ***** shots
Who shout “muthafukka,” “dude,” "******,"
And other raucous
Victory chants
Can not be more like
Mature
Older
Men

“Just like you,”
Baby girl says
“Just like you.”

You want me to empathize
You want me to criticize
The nasty boys
Who took you for another
Cruel and pointless ride

You want me to father you
In a way he never did

But I’m sorry
Baby girl
I’m sorry

I can’t

Because I admire and envy those
Boys
In the prime of their life
Not yet defeated
Not yet haunted
Not yet beaten
By the disappointments that
Await

They are a national treasure
A precious resource

From the exuberant crude shouts of
Irrational wild boys
Come the builders of shelter
The providers of sustenance
The conquerors of enemies
The explorers of frontiers

From the exuberant crude shouts of
Irrational boys
Come the daring adventurers
The first one into the burning house
The last one out of the burning house
The one still standing when everybody else
Fled

From the insatiable ***** of such
Irrational wild boys
Come the fierce wild girls
Who dance insanely upon tables
Who run naked through the streets
Who make love without limits
In open fields
Upon damp grass
All through the night

From the insatiable *****  of such
Irrational wild boys
Come the fierce wild girls
Who cat-fight for their lover
Who **** for their children
Who wail passionately for their dead

From such boys
Baby girl
From such boys

You were born into the world

My crazy baby girl
You were born into the world
Like father, like daughter

And if I could be that young wild boy
Again
The one that you hate
And love
In such a maniacal way

It would be an honor to be with you

An honor to hold you
An honor to love you

Until my dying day.

There’s a gun upon my bed
Not the kind made of metal
A vivid tattoo color
Above my lover’s
Secret devil

And that gun is like a demon
Aimed toward her pleasure zone
Urging hunters to take a shot
And take the trophy
Home

I see blood upon the doorstep
I smell ****** in her fold
I  fear ghosts will haunt her body
In the bullets I have sown

I hear hungry infants crying
The ones she gave away
And the ******* she is hiding
Are my regrets from yesterday

I feel the gun blazing
As she ***** my breath away
I’m a hostage to her body
In the mayhem
She  purveys

In the middle of the night
I’ll make my escape
Run, run, run
Run away

I’ve got to run

In the middle of the night
When her back is turned
Run, run, run
Run away

I’ve got to run

There’s a gun upon my bed
It belongs to my baby
Burned deep inside her
On a night she went
Crazy

And every time I think
I’ll flee
Her dangerous painted gun
She draws it against me
And I feel myself succumb

I see blood upon the doorstep
I smell ****** in her fold
I  fear  ghosts will haunt her body
In the bullets I have sown

I hear hungry infants crying
The ones she gave away
And the ******* she is hiding
Are my regrets from yesterday

Save me from her gun
She’ll never let me go
Save me from drowning
In her young and wanton soul

I’ve got to run
But there’s a gun

My baby won’t let me go.