My friend just sent me this lovely poem by gay poet Paul Mariah. Mariah founded Manroot Magazine in San Francisco in 1968, the year this poem was written. He died in 1996, but his poetry lives on. My favorite line: "Now how does it feel / to have a poem / shoved up your ass / the size of a fist." Amazing:

The Figa – Paul Mariah (1968)

I want you to know
how it feels
to have a fist
the size of a poem
up your ass

Get the Vaseline.
This is one finger
And if I angle right
I can get past the knuckle.
Hold still.
This is two fingers
introduce rhythm
finger movements
allow the play to continue
This is three fingers
Keep the rhythm steady
never stop the movement
I want you to feel the size of
This is four fingers
Cupped and the play continues
and I am not going to stop
Lift the left leg higher
This is my thumb
and the movement is steady
the fingers move into
you are closing around my wrist

Now how does it feel
to have a poem
shoved up your ass
the size of a fist

Now I am going to uncup
my palm and make
a scratch on the inside.

This was the scene
and I had to get out of bed
to write it
so you would know
the size of it
and now we can go on...