affection

No longer (methought) shall I leave scope for detractors

to bracket me with teen-aged lads, in the shadow

of Daddy's generation. I'll grow the hair

on my bare face, until I'm hirsute in appearance.

I nearly got there, but the light brown down

on the tip of my lip was soft, fleecy and effeminate -

the dreamt of virility wasn't revealed in big

signals of burgeoning (clearly masculine) gender.

Men approached me and started flirting, with dirty

smiles and silent sexual suggestions - a creature

pretty enough to command their erotic attention.

I went home for a despairing haircut and shave.

I'm fearful I shall never find a mate,

while fixed in this androgynous estate.