You said you like the curtains drawn
that lips are best in the dark
and that such things as kissing your ring
should be done in a circle of salt
that the kind of love
that you speak of
when your seance is channeling
old Poets of Light
wearing cloaks made of Night
appears and then quickly is gone.
You promised that on our wedding night
your kiss would wear a new face
a stand-in for your heart would come
and deal the Ace of Spades
for love of the black
you've stuffed in the crack
between three, and two, and one
where my love grows ill
on your window sill
and dies with all its might.
________________
for Dverse Poetics: prelude to a kiss.
Music: Labrinth Jealous
Love that: that lips are best in the dark. Still, the darkest, is when love grows ill, and dies with all its might.
ReplyDeleteHoly smackers. I have no good-enough words for this. It is phenomenal. Closing lines you knocked out of the park.
ReplyDeletemystical vibes in this intrigue me! The ending is a whopper! Enjoyed! 🖤✒️🖤
ReplyDeleteSmashing opening - the idea of drawn curtains and deferring to kiss a ring, in a salt circle - just so richly velvet are these words and the poem itself. The incantation spell like feel of the poetic form just enriches this all the more so.
ReplyDeleteWow - Shay, those last three lines in particular are so chilling...
ReplyDelete~David
SkepticsKaddish.com
Damn! I can relate with this one so much because where I live, society frowns on public displays of love but the irony is, the number of violent acts against women are among the highest around the world here.
ReplyDeleteI really relate to this poem, Shay. My husband isn’t keen on public displays of affection, let alone passion. But I do think that ‘lips are best in the dark’, I like the mystery. These lines break my heart:
ReplyDelete‘where my love grows ill
on your window sill
and dies with all its might’.
You evoke such strong moods. Your images are powerful. I agree with all that is said above. An amazing, slightly disturbing read.
ReplyDeleteAn intriguing poem...
ReplyDeleteThis is deliciously dark and relatable, Shay! The image of "lips are best in the dark,"... speaks so much about the complexity of love and relationships. ❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteVery surreal, very dark, very amazing — a haunting and haunted look at love. Rich in imagery Shay. Excellent work adherent to your truth.
ReplyDeleteApart from the excellent start with keeping the kisses secret I love the touch of sorcery in the later parts...
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written, Shay, with your signature atmosphere of gothica (I certainly hope it didn't actually happen!). And I love me some Labrinth! Good choice :-)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm waiting for your word list, are you putting it up tonight? <3
Doves crying in the dark indeed. I hear your sorcerer is still looking for his lost shaker of salt.
ReplyDeleteThis is one hell of an amazing poem Shay! Beautiful in it what it holds and the haunting of what it does not. The rhyme form is beautiful and a wonderful touch. No one writes of love and all it holds and doesn't in life quite like you my friend!
ReplyDeleteHi Shay, are you okay? Just checking in on you as I notice you haven't put up a new word list. Hope all is well with you, my friend :)
ReplyDelete