Poetic Eroticism and Sex-Positive Sex Education
Poetic Eroticism is one of the endless cornerstones of s3xuality. Poets, especially queer poets throughout history have written pieces of work that encapsulates the many experiences of s3x and intimacy. They write about glares that bring heat to the skin. They write about touch that makes the soul feel like it has ascended. They even write about fetish and kink. The art of this type of poetry is creative, yet thought-provoking as it allows readers like me to engage in sexuality, s3x, pleasure and intimacy differently. Instead of feeling shame, reading pieces of art like this makes me feel empowered to write my own stories and connect to my own s3xual/intimate experiences and what I want to experience. Sex positive sex education can be uniquely enhanced by incorporating this type of medium. We are all different learners, and some folks may need something written or even something written creatively to understand or be able to connect or participate in a particular subject matter.
One of my favorite erotic poems is Recreation by Audre Lorde. The use of imagery and relaying this romantic and vulnerable experience to the process of writing and creating itself is special and genius. One line that stands out is to me is "the poem you make of me.” Your partner learning and loving your body is poetic, and trusting someone to do that is hard but once you do, it is freeing. I think ages 13-18, can benefit from interacting with erotic poems and love/romance poems in general, and possibly be inspired to write themselves. Even if it’s not a poem, and it’s a short story or a stream of consciousness, young people can approach liberation and unlearning by expressing themselves creatively.
Here is Recreation by Audre Lorde for your reading pleasure courtesy of Poetry Foundation. This piece is from The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde, originally published in 1997.
Coming together
it is easier to work
after our bodies
meet
paper and pen
neither care nor profit
whether we write or not
but as your body moves
under my hands
charged and waiting
we cut the leash
you create me against your thighs
hilly with images
moving through our word countries
my body
writes into your flesh
the poem
you make of me.
Touching you I catch midnight
as moon fires set in my throat
I love you flesh into blossom
I made you
and take you made
into me.
I utilize Poetry Foundation (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/) to learn more about poetry of all genres, and they have collections of poems based on themes, like queer love poems, and poems written during the Harlem Renaissance.
Written by Na’Kiya Thompson, Summer 2023 Intern