Sometimes it takes thinking through your initial reaction to find how your really feel. One reader discovered that when she found this article.
Voichita Nachescu in response to Erotic Poetry, Queer Sex, and High School English by Charlie Bondhus:
As I was reading Ginsberg’s poem [Please Master], initially I felt that I completely understood why Superintendent Carter had deemed it inappropriate for teenagers. I felt it was inappropriate for anybody to read, and, with each line, I felt like saying “No, he can’t possibly be saying that!” My face was flushed, and I was, yes, embarrassed.
My point is, there’s a lot of talk about poetry pushing the boundaries of language. Well, I had just had that experience of challenging the boundaries, and I want to thank you, Charlie Bondhus, for linking this poem to your site. This is what poetry does, in a forceful way—challenge the boundaries of what can be said, in order for truth to emerge.
This is not about someone foisting the details of his or her sexual life on the readers. And I don’t think it has much in common with Fifty Shades, or any other half informed, badly written, and “titillating” discussion about sexual practices.
This is rather about how poetry can speak about desire and sex in an intense and powerful way that doesn’t make sex a joke, or something shameful. Same sex desire shouldn’t be relegated to the closet, only to emerge once a year at Gay Pride. Teenagers, who are exposed to countless ways of talking about sex that are stereotypical, exploitative, and make it sound like a dirty joke, would only benefit from reading Please Master, and I admire and applaud the teacher, David Olio, who had the wisdom and courage to do that.
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What do you think? (If you choose to read the poem and comment, please be aware that it contains NSFW language.)
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Photo: Thomas Fisher Rare Book/Flickr