Nude Study of Thomas E. McKeller
by Brionne Janae
boy on his knees
thighs apart his calf
muscled and hanging
from the block
his foot dangles
the black cock’s limp
in dirty moss
and like moss grown
on the northern side
of the bark
it is telling
on this man
who otherwise
might have passed
he looks upwards
as if at a lover
or perhaps to plead
with his master
O master
are you pleased with this body
with its deep african delights
is it not divine
how the light
makes heaven
of my torso—
why deny me
I know
how you are drawn—come
slide your tongue
down the veins
of my throat come
step out from behind
the canvas come out
you have permission yes
come kiss
my lips
these plump caterpillars entering
the chrysalis
thighs apart his calf
muscled and hanging
from the block
his foot dangles
the black cock’s limp
in dirty moss
and like moss grown
on the northern side
of the bark
it is telling
on this man
who otherwise
might have passed
he looks upwards
as if at a lover
or perhaps to plead
with his master
O master
are you pleased with this body
with its deep african delights
is it not divine
how the light
makes heaven
of my torso—
why deny me
I know
how you are drawn—come
slide your tongue
down the veins
of my throat come
step out from behind
the canvas come out
you have permission yes
come kiss
my lips
these plump caterpillars entering
the chrysalis
Brionne Janae is a California native, teaching artist, and poet living in Boston where she completed an MFA at Emerson College. Brionne was a recipient of the 2016 St. Botoloph Emering Artist award, and is a proud Cave Canem Fellow. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Rattle, jubilat, Boaat, Plume, Bayou Magazine, The Nashville Review, and Waxwing among others. Brionne’s first manuscript After Jubilee will be published by Boaat Press in the Winter of 2017.
