This shriveled thing, this lazy, useless digit,
bows down and cringes conscious of the shame,
it brings about by acting like an idget
and not living up to its once vainglorious claim
of being the tallest tower, the very ripening
force in life. What once was the body’s flame
has lost its power except as sewage piping,
dripping, dropping, drooping, a source of rage
that’s youthful, prepubescent, quite the diaper.
Passion is put into the cushioned cage.
Desire makes no sense. Desire’s numb
when fate turns personal history back a page.
The index finger’s now a broken thumb.
This shriveled thing won’t sing; the body’s dumb.
Drew Pisarra is the recent recipient of a literary grant from Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation which will allow him to pursue both the completion of his book Poems for Fassbinder and the continuation of his ongoing sonnet series Periodic Boyfriends. His poetry collection Infinity Standing Up was released earlier this year by Capturing Fire Press. He tweets at: twitter.com/mistermysterio
Drew Pisarra's poem 'Sonnet 6"' will be in our Stories About Penises anthology (release date 28 November 2019), available from Guts Publishing: www.gutspublishing.com/product-page
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