Charlie's Body

Charlie sat for me once
Sophomore year of college

I was trying to find someone
With a strong face
To paint

And he was walking down the quad
And I literally tackled him
Like, to the ground
Because he was walking kind of fast
And I was, like--

'I need you!'

And he was like--

'Thank you, but I'm seeing someone.'

So I explained to him
That I need somebody to sit for me
For my art class

He was a little resistant at first
But then I told him that I'm the best tutor on campus
And I'd tutor him for free
In any class he wanted
If he just helped me with this

He asked me if I was any good at Math
And I told him that I was on the College Trig Team
And I could get him an 'A' in any class on campus
Especially Mr. Moore's
Because he and I were having an affair at the time

He held out his hand
And told me we had a deal

I remember painting Charlie
And having the distinct impression
That he didn't realize
How good-looking he was

When I told him
He said--

'My little brother's the looker, I'm just Charlie'

I never heard anybody say that before
That they were just themselves

'Charlie,' I said, 'Take off your clothes'

He said he didn't think this was a nude portrait
And I said it wasn't before
But it was going to be now

When he saw I wasn't kidding
He started to strip

I have that affect on men

Once he was naked
I went over to him
And started painting
Right on his body

I painted all the lines
And the muscle
And the shapes
With whatever color
I thought fit

I painted all the way up to his face
And when I got there
I put a little dot of red
Right on his lips

'Now, c'mon,' I said, 'Let's see what we have here'

I brought him over to the mirror
And he started laughing

'What's so funny,' I said

He just shook his head
And said--

'I've never seen myself like this before'

You know people have this idea
That men don't care about
How they look naked

But I can tell you from experience
That isn't true

When I got older
I quit art
And went into plastic surgery
Which I suppose
Is another form of art

I could tell that Charlie
Didn't like his body

At least, not until I showed him
How I saw it

Covered in paint
With bright colors
Highlighting all the strong parts

All the strength
He didn't know he had

He looked at himself
In the mirror for awhile
Then turned to me and said--

'Do you want to have sex?'

It wasn't the best pick-up line I've ever head
But I guess when you've covered a man in paint
He's entitled to at least an hour
Of your time

When we were done
I told Charlie I had to get ready
For class
And I went to the bathroom
To shower

Before I did I stood there
Staring at myself in the mirror

The paint from his body
Had rubbed off
Onto mine

It was like when you take a piece of paper
And put it up against a gravestone
Then run a coin across it

I could see Charlie's body on mine

And I liked the way it looked

To be truthful...

I liked it a lot better with it
Than without it