Sex in poetry: it’s not the poetry your mama read you.

When we think poetry, we think love, romance, and ethereal walks on the beach. Rarely do we think of grunting, sweaty, kinky-as-you-can-get sex. But many poets. from Tennessee Williams to Tony Hoagland, to some new faces like C. Wills are using their mastery of words to take us on a sensuous ride through the muck.

In the last few days, I’ve been reading the Poetry of C. Wills – a young and up-and-coming poet. To say she has a way with words is probably a huge understatement.

I came across one particular poem that caused me to call my fiancé and beg her to come home immediately called, “…Cum for Me…” With a name like that, you might think you’re in for some hackish rampage into the darkest fantasies of a lunatic, but trust me, C. Wills expresses this very human desire with poise, precision and wonderful detail. For me, the words themselves conjured up the images of past encounters, taking me right back to that time as if I was there all over again. I highly recommend you check our her stuff.

After reading this sensuous and delightful poem, I decided to take my web browser for a spin and look around for some other poetry with equally tawdry themes. What I found was shocking. Some good, some really bad, but in general, it is apparent that sex and sexuality are two very common themes for poets.

I’ve been on a kick lately about a new Poetry album called “Poetic License: 100 Poems/100 Performers” which I found through some research on Lewis Carroll’s work in my last post. Wow, is there some dirty stuff on this album and not only do we get to read them, we get to take a trip with some awesome actors into their wildest fantasies. I’m told that the performers on the album actually chose which poems they wanted to read, so it seems to me that these must be meaningful to them in some way. Here are some of my favorite down and dirty poems on the album:

Tony Hoagland: Self-Improvement, performed by Daniel Okulitch
A delightfully delicious poem about some tasty vajayjay (not Oprah’s I don’t think), and what a guy will do to get some. This one is apparently too hot for iTunes, so if you want it, you can find it here on Broadjam.

Tennessee Williams: Life Story, performed by Moises Kaufman

You know that uncomfortable feeling after a one night stand when you wake up next to someone and you realize you have no idea who they are? I think Tennessee has captured that moment pretty well here. You can find this one on iTunes if you decide you want to share this with a friend, or maybe your current lover who was at some point a one night stand. Why not relive that moment over and over again!