I hit up “Microphone & Moustaches” tonight at Wunderbar. A small but enthusiastic event put on by @ingloriouship, @reilycat, and @bingofuel, among others. I wrote a poem inspired by my thoughts about facial hair (I enjoy it) to read there, and managed to elicit $20 in donations for Movember by reading it on stage. Which I did poorly, I must say, as I scrawled it out while in the bathtub about an hour before I hit the road for Wunderbar, and could hardly read my own scribbled out stricken-through text and handwriting in the margins under the lights, on the strangely humid and unseasonably warm stage. Nowhere is that warm in November, but then again it was 8 degrees today (!!!!!), so whatever, I’ll take it.
a poem inspired by #Movember
bring me your beards and moustaches
your goatees, sideburns, mutton chops
and soul patches
bring me your bristled cheeks
stubbled chins
and grizzled grins
bring me the things
that make you men
that protect you from the elements
that wind constant from your faces
always, forever
sure as the sun sets and rises
sure as fire, sure as life
press them into my skin
i will purr and curl up to them
the eternal present
in the memory
of daddy’s furry lip
on the nape of my neck
when i was just a kid
lifted out of my crib
and he made me tea
and taught me to read
and drew the blueprint
for what men should be
warm and solid
loyal and free
bring me your beards and moustaches
i will never complain
of the scratchy rough patches
in the tangled thatches
of your manness
but rather, thank you
for being men
in your genius and your weakness
in your wonder and your sins
—
If you are interested in donating to Movember, check out my friend Seth Glick, home of not only the double, but also the triple mo. He absolutely deserves your money, because no one takes Movember more to heart or puts more effort into raising awareness and money through new and creative ways to style the mo.