Masturbation

Courage, a Tale

There was a Child
who heard from another Child
that if you masturbate 100 times it kills you.
This gave him pause;
he certainly slowed down quite a bit
and also kept count.
But, till number 80,
was relatively loose about it.
There did seem plenty of time left.
The next 18
were reserved for celebrations,
like the banquet room in a hotel.
The 99th time
was simply unavoidable.
Weeks passed.
And then he thought
Fuck it
it's worth dying for,
and half an hour later
the score rose from 99 to 105.

Jack Straw’s Castle, Thom Gunn (1976)