When one of them moved through the marketplace of Selefkia
just as it was getting dark—
moved like a young man, tall, extremely handsome,
with the joy of being immortal in his eyes,
with his black and perfumed hair—
the people going by would gaze at him,
and one would ask the other if he knew him,
if he was a Greek from Syria, or a stranger.
But some who looked more carefully
would understand and step aside;
and as he disappeared under the arcades,
among the shadows and the evening lights,
going toward the quarter that lives
only at night, with orgies and debauchery,
with every kind of intoxication and desire,
they would wonder which of Them it could be,
and for what suspicious pleasure
he had come down into the streets of Selefkia
from the August Celestial Mansions. – C. P. Cavafy
More info : https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/c-p-cavafy
In response to AJ-
I’m in complete agreement with you, AJ. We have all seen those men who seem to be like living gods, briefly striding among us mortals before they disappear under the arcades, on their way to unknown depravity and sexual ecstasy accessible only to those of a certain esoteric knowledge and self awareness of their own perfection.
I will admit that I have accessed that netherworld of sexual intensity on many occasions and have close friendships with many of those men, still. I am hardly a god. Laughable! But my curiosity allowed me to enjoy relationships and interactions with men I never dreamed possible. They looked as beautiful as those gods we see on this site. And they were as charming.
I went out and discovered gods of my own. The HaPenis Project has taught me much about the immortality of sexual ecstasy and the intoxicating beauty of (this) old men.
Men enjoy other men’s bodies
Dear Leo, thank you. Three sentences of yours are particularly beautiful and important for all of us to think about. 1. “…sexual ecstasy accessible only to those of a certain esoteric knowledge and self awareness of their own perfection.” Experience, knowledge, self-awareness, self-confidence: these are SO important for us all in our (sexual) lives. 2. “…my curiosity allowed me to enjoy relationships and interactions with men I never dreamed possible.” Cavafy beautifully evokes the timidity filled with longing of the spectator on the sidelines, like many of us visiting this wonderful site…If the sights of the gods on earth that we see here make us curious, your advice is: Then get out there and find your own gods to follow into the night. 3. “I went out and found gods of my own.” YES, so have I, so have many of us, and so can we all!
Thanks again for bringing the Hottest men ,they make me excited and of melt me!😛😍
This is a perfect poem for this site, with it’s arcades of beautiful men, not all tall, young or extremely handsome in Cavafy’s idealised way, but all intoxicating in their nakedness and masculinity, all inviting us to go out and discover our own suspicious pleasures with gods of our own.
PS Cavafy wrote very gloomy poems about old men. Sexless, too far gone to even remember the ecstatic encounters of their youth. The HaPenis Project could have taught him something about the immortality of sexual ecstasy and the intoxicating beauty of old men.