Darling, kiss me slow
Lips like an undertow
And drown me in your love, tonight.
Oh, pull me in;
Let me feel warmth again,
Until the sun starts rising.
Dear, let me sing to sleep,
Shear all your fears like sheep,
And leave your past behind you.
Darling, so kiss me slow;
Your lips are all I know,
And taste our dreams, tonight.
The difference between love and lust
Lies in lack of faith and trust;
The sensual grasp of empty threads
Dyed in black and deepest reds.
The smell of sweat and fire lingers
Curled between blackened fingers
That trace the curves of your lips
And find rest between your hips.
Lust clenches tightly for fleeing gazes,
Heartless bruising, and empty phrases.
Love holds on gently and calmly sings–
Places value more on time, than things.
Lust craves endless attention
And pays in lack of intimate retention.
Love patiently waits, and nurtures growth–
Holds to loyalty’s promise, a sacred oath.
Lust flees from troubled water,
Preferring to coast as an entitled yachter.
Love abides the stormy years;
A ship made stronger against all fears.
I no longer need someone to save
Nor someone to rescue me.
I have a Savior;
But as for mortal love,
I need a partner
Not a mother, father, or nurse.
No knight in shining,
Nor heroine with sharpened sword–
Just a friend to hold and laugh with.
Someone to watch the stars fall,
To share warmth of summer,
And bear the frosty winter mornings.
Someone to learn with,
To listen to when days are rough–
A reminder that sacrifice is at the heart
And soul of eternity.
Someone to tease,
To take on adventures
On mountains, lakes, and valleys
Or in the shelter of our home.
To peruse the shelves of her mind
And bookmark every word
To sing the notes written in her bones.
To trace every freckle,
To kiss every scar,
But most of all to thrive in the present.
To thrive in the gift
Of being more than we would be alone.
Their hearts are connected by a single string
And every time she pulls the line
It slides through her hand
And pools at her feet.
She aches to draw closer,
But the words and images in thread
Are her only comfort.
She looks out in the distance
Sees the string going on
And on,
And on,
Curving at the end of the horizon,
Yet never slacking.
She can feel a voice echoing down the vein
With a hint of cologne in its wake
Can hear the vibration
Resonating in her chest.
She cries out as she watches
The threads of others grow thin
And snap—
Waiting for hers to follow suit.
She yearns for him all the day long
For a glimpse of the soul on the other side
And in the night hours he is there for a moment
And in the morning he fades into whispers
And impressions of pillows held too tightly.
She tugs the string
He tugs back
And both look forward
To a day when the string will slacken.
She loves the feel of soft things,
Summer heat kissing her skin
With constellations,
Tesselations of conversations
Each reflecting in on themselves
Folding within her heart
Then reaching outward
Emptying themselves in her mind.
She compresses sadness and anger
Until joy seeps through
Straining the dark against the light
Until light cloud cover and storms
Stream through
Threatening to drown
Even this impossibly strong swimmer.
Her mouth is open
Her arms outstretched for something,
Somewhere worth being herself
With no delusions of value
She reflects her inner beauty
Her work, a refracted cascade of light
Seizing shadows and arresting hearts
Putting into motion a life
Greater than the sum of her experiences
And silencing forever the voices
That tell her she can’t.
From hair and eyes like oak and pine
Words poured from cherry lips
Sweeter and fuller
Than honey, maple or wine.
Verse sustaining and sustained
Founding and finding
Secure foundations for hope
Entangled like roots and rain
Rising from her lungs whole
Devoting air to the single phrases
I devour in form like rivers
Sending chills throughout my soul.
Yet, even fixed I cannot comprehend
The priceless nature
Within this goddess
I call friend.
Filled my heart with love–
Where once stood walls and branches
Founded oasis.
Showering with skin
Foreign to my fingertips
Forged and tempered in love
I caress
And forever feel I’ll fail to comprehend
How a work that is not a “work,”
Though a breathing masterpiece,
Could ever find a way
To share a life with me.
Your name catches in my throat
Like a breath I feared
Abated
Before it struck my lungs
And rendered paralyzed my disposition.
I am lost
In pursuit of fruitless acquisition
For words too heavy for exhalation
Invalid explanations
For all you make me feel.
Yet, failing proper respiration
I’ve still discovered systematic devastation
And traced the cause to you.
If for nothing else
I’m grateful that your soft smile
Illuminated
The cavernous thoughts
That overcloud my mind
With words of repetition
A vague sense of inhibition
Stifled with the experience of life.
And though my mind’s still clouded
And heart still jagged
I’ll trace the connections you left me
And try to be whole again.
Moonlit Poetry 