Tender-Passion Forger
Training
Thumb-Sized Adonis
His lip-service is handiworked,
he addles breath
wizening that throat,
a coup d' etat in Possibility's shade;
on the superfices of any undoing.
He curtain-raises the salvo
parodies a runt/idol -
skin-deep seductiveness
in demeanour, polish.
I was sheep's eyes
from the overture's rehearsal,
trouser-buckled to every upshot
in the sleep that knows no waking.
Far-fling stalks
can be knacked,
an arms length mirror
on a fill-in
no tenser than a punch bag.
Step into an impression,
a tour de force -
hands rag-flounce
the belt knot.
Fix the eye -
foot arch outwardly. Crump.
A flush of sweat
on his tight face.
You must shy-step all us bum boys,
the ultra-male is hairsprayed, sequined.
All your starlets stunt like faggots
and you pose as turned-on to women.
Straight, you're bent to singularity,
goose bumped by a mess in secret places
kinking you from alien men.
Christopher Barnes writes: in 1998 I won a Northern Arts writers award. In July 2000 I read at Waterstones bookshop to promote the anthology 'Titles Are Bitches'. Christmas 2001 I debuted at Newcastle's famous Morden Tower doing a reading of my poems. Each year I read for Proudwords lesbian and gay writing festival and I partake in workshops. 2005 saw the publication of my collection LOVEBITES published by Chanticleer Press, 6/1 Jamaica Mews, Edinburgh. On Saturday 16Th August 2003 I read at the Edinburgh Festival as a Per Verse poet at LGBT Centre, Broughton St. Christmas 2001 The Northern Cultural Skills Partnership sponsored me to be mentored by Andy Croft in conjunction with New Writing North. I made a radio programme for Web FM community radio about my writing group. October-November 2005, I entered a poem/visual image into the art exhibition The Art Cafe Project, his piece Post-Mark was shown in Betty's Newcastle. This event was sponsored by Pride On The Tyne. I made a digital film with artists Kate Sweeney and Julie Ballands at a film making workshop called Out Of The Picture which was shown at the festival party for Proudwords, it contains my poem The Old Heave-Ho. I worked on a collaborative art and literature project called How Gay Are Your Genes, facilitated by Lisa Mathews (poet) which exhibited at The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University, including a film piece by the artist Predrag Pajdic in which I read my poem On Brenkley St. The event was funded by The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Institute, Bio-science Centre at Newcastle's Centre for Life. I was involved in the Five Arts Cities poetry postcard event which exhibited at The Seven Stories children's literature building. In May I had 2006 a solo art/poetry exhibition at The People's Theatre why not take a look at their website: http://ptag.org.uk/whats_on/gallery/recent_exhbitions.htm
The South Bank Centre in London recorded my poem "The Holiday I Never Had", I can be heard reading it on www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=18456
