Dark Pink Nipples in the 1950s
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
The 1950s held its clean-cut sorts,
Its crew-cut men, but they were not the whole
Array. Some others filled the gorgeous courts
Like those at Hot House, Cherry Grove. A stroll
Around Fire Island would have opened eyes
To men of wavy masculinity,
With seashell lips ,and tanning, hairy thighs.
What they lacked in manly virginity
Was made up for by showing armpit hair.
The sea-green eyes belonged to depths of gaze
That shrivelled up resistance. That blond stare
Obliterated crew-cut thoughts. The maze
Of maleness suddenly became the best
Enigma set in patterns on that chest.
~ Phillip Whidden