"Neoteric Kama No Sutra" by Frank X Walker

February 23, 2023

Neoteric Kama No Sutra

Frank X Walker

When pheromones, ignited by the promise
in her come-and-get-it smile, our kinetic skin,
and my hunger, sing to our son of how he got here
and why it all started, he finds a way to prove

umbilical cords are longer than desire.
He cries I just want you, and everything planned
or selfish and hard, in her, melts and is put on hold.
Something in the ether, in the dark or in our eyes

warns my mini me that another hymn could be made
in this moment. He remembers he does not share,
wedges his head into our groove, almost reprising
his birth. Like a wrestler needing to break a figure-four

leg lock or spill the Milk and Water Embrace,
he forces a submission, but we are patient and wait.

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“This poem is the result of my attempt to articulate the challenge of keeping romance and intimacy alive while parenting younger children; and how our four-year-old has forced us to reconsider what qualifies as romance; and how we now choose to express our love for each other.”
—Frank X Walker

Frank X Walker is the author of A is for Affrilachia (The University Press of Kentucky, 2023), among other titles. The recipient of fellowships from the Lannan Foundation and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), among other organizations, he served as the poet laureate of Kentucky from 2013–14. He lives in Lexington.

A is for Affrilachia
(The University Press of Kentucky, 2023)

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Neoteric Kama No Frank X Walker

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