don’t linger on his body long
men have ways to distract you
from seeing age and lines
by using posture and position
to make themselves the star
when they’re only another subject
concentrate inside his eyes
that’s where they often hide
and if you can catch the hint
of hesitation or fear of ridicule
you have him by the heart
build his body to surround it
arrogance and thin hair
broken veins on an emerging nose
a hint of cataracts denied
built muscles under paper skin
rigid chest with wisps of grey
flaccidity between stick legs
reflected sheen on fragile thighs
buttock sag seen from behind
varicosity in duck-egg blue
concentrate inside his eyes
when you have him by the heart
his body builds around it
he is only another subject
© Frank Prem, 2003
Frank Prem Poetry 
Life drawing??
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Hi Ali.
No, I only made it to 2 sessions of life drawing. I could go for more, but probably won’t.
This piece was from some years back. The Bard has also left a question asking how I came to write the piece and I’ll do my best to give a full answer there.
Gosh, it’s made me re-visit old and suppressed memories, LOL. Wasn’t expecting that when I posted.
Cheers,
Frank
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Could you explain a little about the theme? What made you write this?
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That’s a pretty big question, and has caused me to rake over my memory banks to recall the writing of it.
My recollection is discussion by female amateur artists about the difficulty of painting male nudes – along the lines ‘even when they’re naked, the models have a kind of arrogance about their bodies that is different to female models. This makes it difficult to properly capture some elements of the male and makes it frustrating and perhaps a little intimidating to draw them.
From this, I explored for myself what might be the key to getting past that, and what might a (female, crust and formidable) female tutor instruct her students about the best approach – the approach empowering of the artist, that is.
When I felt I had found the right ‘voice’ or tone, the poem wrote itself.
I recall it as a very interesting discussion that voiced dissatisfaction, gender roles, a kind of bullying and quite a few elements of that sort, which were implied, rather than spoken of directly and that is what drew me to the subject, and made it fun to explore.
Cheers,
Frank
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Oh wow I had not thought of that interpretation. So much hidden behind those words. Amazing!
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Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the piece.
Cheers,
Frank
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Just lovely! Thanks for posting on The Daily Post. It’s always a joy to find a new author.
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You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed the piece. Thanks.
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