Aunt Lettuce, I Want To Peek Under Your Skirt

If Charles Simic’s poem “Breasts” wasn’t sexy enough for you, consider trying the wink-nudge collection of Valentines collected in his newest volume. Here, Simic’s poetry is characteristically airy, image-evoking, and funny as he tells of making love in a grass field, catching a glimpse of an unclothed Venus through her bedroom window, picking a flea from his lover’s armpit. There are lots of kitchen sex scenes, too, always fun stuff. And, of course, his love affair with breasts continues. Simic’s poem-stories are paired with appropriately minimalist and scribbly sketches by Howie Michels, erotic romps in which clothing precariously slips–or gets pulled–aside.