Hold Me Gorilla Monsoon

The worlds we occupy ourselves with



are not real. The Russians in the ring



are not Russian; their pal, mincing



around with his silk scarves and boas,



has never taken another man's penis



into his mouth. The act is convincing



though there's nothing worth taking



shame in. We revel in the same things.



We know the secret language of flesh



and musculature. Some of us speak



it in tongues of sweat and oil.



Hold Me Gorilla Monsoon collects poems and comic strips about sex and gender as viewed through the lens of professional wrestling. In poems written to or about wrestlers like Junkyard Dog, Roddy Piper, Ox Baker, The Ultimate Warrior, The Rock, and CM Punk, Colette Arrand teases out the homoerotic roots of wrestling and how its warped, cartoon masculinity plays itself out over the course of a fan's life.