Ah! man’s coition - Henry Miller

Ah! man’s coition

Ah! man’s coition,
How ironic, mocking, comic—
Man lying on top of woman.
Man, the master of the world
Man, the great fighting cock,
Subjugating her, dominating her.
He triumphs cruelly
Entering her, and

Making her obey.
But the triumph is
Short, for a moment or two,
Just enough for nature’s role

Just enough to wreck its havoc.
And woman submits,
Submits willingly
(to make man suspicious of her)

Submits easily,
To him and to many others,
(the great whore she is)
To fulfill her destiny.

But the moment
The child is born,
She is through with him.
He’s finished. He can croak.


Rendering a prose passage
Of Henry Miller in ‘The World of Lawrence’