The Animal that Desires - Momus

I am cursed with a strange delusion:

I imagine myself to be

The only creature in the world that desires

And reproduces sexually

And everybody else is an amoeba

A tapeworm, a eunuch or virus

(Nicholas, don’t be so ridiculous, Nicholas)

So I sit on the tube trying desperately to conceal

This embarrassing anomaly

This sin particular to me

For I, uniquely, must carry the rose

I, uniquely, have a cock beneath my clothes

And dream uniquely lewd dreams in front of multiplex screens

IT’S AS THOUGH I

(AND I ALONE)

SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR THE UNIVERSAL SIN

Which reminds me of someone

But I am not like Him

I am the only animal in the world that desires

Wandering lost amidst cathedral spires

Sacrificed on behalf of the general

Possessor of an unruly genital

Amongst the dead I beat my breast

Proclaim my sinful proclivity

For simply living outside captivity

Sexually, as if I were unique, and the world uniquely unforgiving

Somebody please understand me!

Tell me you feel the same way!

(Nicholas, don’t be so ridiculous Nicholas)

So I sit on the bus trying furiously to conceal

This inexplicable lust, this outlandishly physical zeal

That, if I were to reveal, would seem simply surreal

In your eyes when you realise

I think differently from you

Amidst the phallic towers

Amidst the birds, the bees and flowers

The people too

IT’S AS THOUGH

I (AND I ALONE)

SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR THE UNIVERSAL SIN

Which reminds me of someone

But I am not like Him

I am the only animal in the world that desires

Being ushered towards my funeral pyre

The example, the victim, the criminal

Possessor of an unruly genital

Won’t someone understand me

Help me bear the strain

Say they feel the same way

Say I’m not to blame