In the shrine
that we build
for first kisses,
lies the furloughed
still-warm lips
of Childhood’s ghosts,
forever
puckering
to seal love,
airtight
in its
untold lore
and claim
to rose.
Forget about it
I said
it’s fire under the bridge
and watched
from a distance
as the flames
and smoke
rose over the sea
as if Dante’s
infernal take
on the Birth of Venus.
Today
the glass is half empty
full of singing void
and fire
me
cutting my teeth on the rim
tonguing rapaciously
at spiked air
clenching at the impossible slake
if only I could swallow
smooth as grace
this bitter seethe
if only the cup were real
and I
at bottom
measureless
Her talk of bruised skin, and how
it caught fire on the far side of trespass,
fascinated me to no end.
She wanted to burn clean through,
didn’t want to hear any more talk
about cooler heads prevailing,
or stubborn poppies
doped on opiates
bending to catch rain,
she wanted the holy fire,
the full-on plunge and rend,
same as Teresa
when she was harpooned
by God’s love
through that angel’s lighted lance
piercing clean through her heart’s
deepest desire,
she wanted
to be Teresa on high,
disrobing her skin
in a glorious siege
and char,
she said and I quote,
I don’t want the far side of trespass
any more
don’t want to find myself whored
through a series of disillusionments,
I want the garden,
to reclaim my soft seat
in the grass
as the queen of the moon
and stars,
I want to invent love
from the ground up,
and get it right
this time.
How, I said.
There,
no more words,
just burning silence,
followed by
the furious planting
of a first kiss.
Posted in Poetry, Uncategorized
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Tagged angel, eden, garden, God, John Biscello, kiss, love, passion, poem, spirit, st. teresa
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