Men Observing Men

"Yet is every man observed by any man"  - Lisa Robertson, The Men


I AM A VERY PRODUCTIVE ENTREPRENEUR - Mathias Svalina


I started this one business that hires out strong, rugged young men to watch other men do work.


I hire them out by the dozen & they are quiet but clearly appreciative of the work they watch.  The men are all strong with thick shoulders & coarse, attractive faces; They all have the kind of skin that when you see it in a photograph you touch your own face absentmindedly.  They all have a certain smell to them, of sweet tire rubber.  They all stand with their weight on one leg so that their hips angle.


The men all nod slightly when you pass by them in a way that assures you they understand how you feel & they have worked hard just as you are working hard & that as they watch you work they can feel the strength growing out of their forearms, like sleek seabirds.  The men all have scales growing on their legs like cold, smooth, black snakes.


The men all have wings & and ram's horns & long necks like giraffes and marsupial pouches & the ability to turn their heads 360 degrees & the ability to sign their parents' names perfectly on official forms from their elementary schools & retractable claws & nan instinct to hoard.


The men work 10-hour days & when they sleep they fold themselves up into small rectangles the size of carry-on luggage & a handle appears in order to easily move the men into storage.  The men require a 45-minute lunch break & two 10-minute breaks.  The men all have cute dimples and egg teeth.


The men attract everyone's attention when they walk into a room & for the remainder of their time in a room everyone else is unconsciously aware of where the men are.


The men have the bodies of horses.  The men have the heads of lions & the wings of gigantic dragonflies. There is nothing overtly homosexual about the men's behavior, yet both men & women find themselves ambiently aroused by them.


Men want to know that other men can see them working; They want each drop of sweat monitored.  Men like to have a dozen men transforming into animals behind them while they hand drywall.  Men like to close their eyes when they cross the streets & feel the wind of passing buses flap the cuffs of their pants (32-33).