Sex, Kink, and the Erotic: “_Voyeur_” by Aerik Francis
_Voyeur_
Slut For You Six Thousand Nine Hundred’s music
plays, Rick James’ voice echoing in the background.
a white woman waves at the camera, all of her
clothing on: black tee, black sweatpants, white socks.
she eats french fries in bed.
Good Vibrations begins to play.
next to her, a dark skinned light skinned man
with only music and a long sleeved white shirt on.
his penis sits semi-chub in the cradle of his rocking hand
casually, because he knows he is being watched. the two wave.
in the hush of song, the woman breaks from the finger
food and gently rests her head on the man’s right shoulder.
the man looks over at her, smiles, asks if she’d like some water.
she nods and he hands her a cup. they sit in comfortable silence.
the scrolling chat is also relatively quiet. All The Way Down
hasn’t typed a thing, nor has Hairy Cub Sixty Nine or Island It.
Naughty Jackie’s text of “I’m a bad girl” goes unreplied
by the pair on cam as they sit together for viewing
pleasure. there is a likelihood, on the other side of the screen,
other people reveal their nakeds with a strip of tape over
the webcam eye. the woman reaches for a pack of cigarettes
and a lighter. she slides a single out, places it up to her lips.
she lights the other end aflame, breathes in. the man,
still one hand on his penis, notices, and with the other hand
gives her a nearby ashtray. they look into each other, whispering softly.
they wave to the camera again. a message appears in the chat:
GOODNIGHT EVERYONE SEE YOU TOMORROW
they went to have sex – perhaps. maybe make love. maybe fuck.
maybe they already did. or maybe never. Broadcaster Slut
For You Six Thousand Nine Hundred decides to maintain their quiet.
About Aerik Francis
Aerik “phaentompoet” Francis is a Queer Black & Latinx poet & teaching artist based in Denver, Colorado, USA. They are event coordinator for Slam Nuba and a poetry reader for Underblong poetry journal. Aerik is a recipient of poetry fellowships from CantoMundo and The Watering Hole. They are also the recipient of the Amiri Baraka Scholarship for Naropa University’s 2019 Summer Writing Program, as well as the Robert Hayden Scholarship for Stockton University’s 2021 Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway. They have poetry published in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Wildness, Santa Clara Review, Ghost City Press, Kissing Dynamite, and other locations and anthologies. Find them on IG/TW @phaentompoet.