Collection of Dads

Dad exploded inside me again
not my dad, but someone’s

slow dripping from an anal faucet

Dad says his son works hard
so he should play hard, too
but doesn’t explain the difference

what sort of reservoir am I
if I reserve all selection
of the men who take me?

if I collapse at your door,
clogged drain for a throat,
do not expect an apology

if I bare a bruised
collar bone, do not
expect me to be soft

ask me about my
collection of dads

expect the rubble
that falls from my mouth

 

Lot’s Wife

Lot’s wife turned around—
a giant spilling of salt.
She must be the unluckiest
figure of the Old Testament.

Sometimes I think of Lot’s wife
when I am watching gay porn—
How she couldn’t help but catch
a glimpse of sodomy behind her.

There is a reason semen is so high
in sodium. Gay sex might be unlucky
by biblical standards, but I have
given up superstition for a good meal.

As I lick the salt from my lips, I turn
to the God I have found in this boy’s body.

I accept myself as the accusèd heathen.
I make my own luck. I am writing my
own testament. Sodium is my favorite
element. Sodom is my hometown.

 

Uninhabitable

I said I was not comfortable bottoming.
You said my body is my own, there is more to us than sex.
You said it was ok.

I wanted my body to be a place you could live comfortably
but I was still learning to love the dirtiest parts of me.
I worried you would find me uninhabitable.

My body was a house under construction
It was not move-in ready, but your belongings
were packed and waiting on the front porch.

I saw you peering through the windows,
sensed you growing impatient with me.
You made me feel guilty in my own home.

My anus is not an open door for you to waltz through.
I should not have to evict a loved one.
I am more foreclosed home than lover.

———————————————————————-

Mason is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota where he earned a B.A. in English, an emphasis in poetry writing. As an undergraduate he was an officer of USlam, the U of M’s slam poetry organization and represented them twice at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI). His work has been featured in Ivory Tower Arts and Literary Magazine, A Quiet Courage, Goliath Magazine and on the Indiefeed Performance Poetry Podcast.