Mermen as Voyeurs and other poems
by Serge ♆ Neptune
[cw: sexual imagery]
mermen as voyeurs
we swim towards the docks
dryness pours into the eyes like vinegar
we observe in secret
the fishermen welcome their new day
big-shouldered lions of amber
our spines stand stiff like legs of storks
we hush behind a cliff or under wooden boards
this peering through
the mundane state of things
how a lack of bees destroys the world
a charm of bees
will save it
Butt-sex
Time is a gland oozing precious seconds
the same way we sweat while having sex.
A peach emptied of its pit becomes
a shed where fruit flies nest if the fruit
is left open & vulnerable & scarred.
Droplets the colour of teeth trickle down
from anuses flow down the drains & into the sewer.
ariel
not quite the disney princess
nw london otter mustachio boy
from a good jewish family ear-
to-ear smile bubbly as an air spirit
shakespearean name but not
many get that met you in waterloo
furry arms on pret’s wonky table
unbuttoned pale blue shirt wink
of chest fur that got me thirsty
start of a tease awkward looking
at the ground pacing along
the southbank aaaw london’s
shiny nightclaws seeping
slowly in your brain laughing
hopped on the 21 to my place
old kent rd & once there i
looked for a condom you
said no sex on a first & yet
what glorious petting what
roller coaster of tongues spit
fingers digging deep slime
everywhere & after you laid
your head on my shoulder
so comfortable fell asleep
the dark behind your eyelids
growing denser morning! you
described how night became
too intense & chewed your limbs
with its jaws asked if the books
on my shelves were books
of witchcraft yes! I said
& never saw you again
Serge ♆ Neptune has been called ‘the little merman of British poetry’. His work has appeared in Finished Creatures, perverse, whynow, Harana Poetry, Lighthouse, Banshee, Spontaneous Poetics, Brittle Star, Ink Sweat & Tears and Strange Poetry. His first pamphlet These Queer Merboys is published with Broken Sleep and is available from their website. Find Serge on twitter: @mermanpoet