Entropy was a measure of being, not,
As one physicist put it, becoming. Becoming
Was all about being, being all about
Becoming, thought body, nonsensically,
Via brain, that imposter the mind, composed
Of millions of alien, external, histories, self,
That sad hostage, and awareness, the little
Flame, a bucket brigade of entropic decay.
Five human beings were down at the shore,
No one under forty, no one slender, no one
Fit, no one dressed in better than swim suits.
A warm wind and the lake waves came up
Like the rollers of an actual surf. Talk
Was of woodpeckers and pack rats, cracks
And holes in cabins, the beginning and end
Of the maintenance that is life, children,
Grandchildren, and, as always, the weather.
Food, too, got discussed in recipe detail.
The women's talk turned to kayaks. The men
Discussed cutting up fallen timber.
A man who did not seem the type to have
Gotten lucky often in his life, began musing
Right on the beach, first, like the rest of us,
About the sensuous summer weather,
The breezes like caresses, but then, more
Alarmingly, about the sensual itself, random
Observations on sex and satisfaction
That would have been salacious, maybe,
If he had been handsome, or the rest had
Been more drunken, until, discomfort
Among his auditors not bothering him,
He reached the topic of orgasm, the worst
Issue to broach in mixed company anywhere.
"It's the inwardness of orgasm fascinates
Me, regardless of body type, age or gender,
Regardless of whether the wanting person
In question is attached to someone else,
Or more than one someone, or solitaire.
Porn star or dowager, you can tell, if you're
There or you're him or you're her, the eyes
Are not focused correctly, the brain's turned
Inside itself. No matter how much surface
Area is in contact between the bodies, no
Matter how many points from hips to lips
Are gripped together, the body communes
Only with itself at the moment of crisis."
Then he fell silent and all the sunbathers, all
Older and misshapen from when they were
Young and capable, but perhaps still
Thinking longingly of release that was not
The real release, looked elsewhere, beyond.
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