the rain came this morning
like gentle kiss on a fevered brow
drenching the balcony window
in dusky light and muted blue
all through the week, summer heat
from your eyes blistered and cracked my skin,
like a forest fire raging out of control,
wounded bull running down Santo Domingo street
i remembered how sweet your first kiss was,
how soft your hands cupping my cheeks,
until your addiction for sun blurred the lines,
black tarred the flesh craving for flesh,
flushing down our intimacy into dirty urine stall
i held your face, my evening star,
with a bold marker, i penned the words:
black and white letters,
crossing all t's, dotting all i's,
drawing height and weight of consequences,
fencing the boundaries to protect me and you.
pinned atop our heads, we slept spooning the moon
i held your face, my evening star,
with a bold marker, i penned the words:
black and white letters,
crossing all t's, dotting all i's,
drawing height and weight of consequences,
fencing the boundaries to protect me and you.
pinned atop our heads, we slept spooning the moon
the rain came this morning
like gentle kiss on a fevered brow
drenching the balcony window
in dusky light and muted blue
Author's Note: I learned about Boundary Agreement from Elsie of Turtle's Musings. She is a loving partner of a recovering sex addict and she has bravely shared her story about their journey to healing. Part of her agreement reads:
- I will absolutely not tolerate any of your previous behavior with online affairs, sexting, cybering, emailing, webcam, sexual forums, or any other type of inappropriate behavior with another woman. I will file for divorce the moment I find out.
- I will absolutely not tolerate you having any type of physical contact with another woman. This includes flashing each other, changing in front of each other, dressing up for each other, touching each other – any contact, even if you think it’s harmless like a neck rub or slapping her on her ass and vice versa – is forbidden in our marriage. Hands Off! I will file for divorce the moment I find out.
Thanks Elsie for letting me share your story.
Posted for Real Toads: Word from Laurie: Demarcation
and D'verse Poets Pub: Poetics : Whatever the weather picture credit: here
dang...you tackled a tough topic and really blended the weather in as well...to a bit of the craziness too that is brings....i love the refrain....and thanks for pointing to her story as well...and how they are over coming...
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian for lovely words and visit ~
DeleteWow, this is a heavy love poem. It's so hard, at times, to love addicts. Your poem, so beautifully written, captures the love and the agony as well.
ReplyDeleteI think its a challenge keep the love burning ~ Thank you Myrna ~
DeleteAstonishingly good, unsettling, yet romantic. My favourite line is probably 'we slept spooning the moon'.
ReplyDeleteThank you David ~
DeleteWow! Amazing, heart-felt piece here, Grace. I especially like:
ReplyDeletei remembered how sweet your first kiss was,
how soft your hands cupping my cheeks,
until your addiction for sun blurred the lines,
black tarred the flesh craving for flesh,
flushing down our intimacy into dirty urine stall
... and spooning the moon at the end. What a tough thing for a married couple to face. So glad they are working through it. What a testament of their love!
Yes, I am amazed at their commitment to make it work ~ Thanks for the lovely prompt Laurie ~
Deleteugh..tough verse...well blended with the rain and thanks for telling us about her story as well..
ReplyDeleteThank you Claudia ~ I also used the rain as a metaphor to their relationship ~
DeleteSome real weight here! And a different twist ....having to dot the I's and cross the t's in a marriage? So tough....I love how this is written in your style- but contains the extra rawness....that open wound which you let us all see....great take on the prompt and thank you for sharing this heartfelt story
ReplyDeleteThanks Stu ~ Each couple is different with unique problems. The BA works for them and in a way heals the open wounds of their marriage ~
DeleteAnd I thought this was going to be a gentle poem when I read the first stanza! Good take on the boundary theme!
ReplyDeletewe slept spooning the moon
ReplyDeleteI love this line a lot!!
Your author's note is infuriating...I don't know if I'd stick around either way...Like waiting to step on a ticking time-bomb.
Well written, Grace!!
It seems that she has set down her boundaries and will stand by them. I hope she can and I hope he will abide. I hope the man is getting professional help. Addicts are sometimes sneaky with their addictions. I like how you worked weather into the poem for dVerse.
ReplyDeleteYes, the hubby is getting professional help and has his own agreements to abide too ~ But like all marriages, its a work in progress ~ Thanks Mary ~
DeleteOh, it's gorgeous - and heavy, heavy with time, and knowing, and image.
ReplyDeleteI'm drenched.
It's not easy writing love poetry...there's space for me here.
Interesting link, going there now.
that was very sensual! And we love our Elsie, the lady general of the Alliance!
ReplyDeleteLove you to Dezzy!!! =)))
Deletewell, it is your holy duty to love my Intergalactic Allied Imperial Naughtiness :)
DeleteInteresting topic. There is so much of this now. I am amazed that people don't even consider it cheating on their partners either but, considering virtual sex is all mostly 'in the mind' and self pleasure .. there has to be something badly wrong with their relationship for either to have to resort to that and, of course, yes, become addicted. It is still very much cheating and, \i would divorce someone in a heart bet if they thought our relationship was so bad they had to spice it up with cyber sex. Tough subject, really eloquently written.
ReplyDeleteUtterly, utterly beautiful - the essence of summer heat
ReplyDeleteso many powerful images, positive and negative. Excellent
ReplyDeleteVery sensual indeed, as always at your feed. But using a basis from old one eye, that cat doesn't like that hahaha
ReplyDeleteGlad to have made the cat angry =)
DeleteI love the way you twisted the two things together, and ending with the beginning; I love that!
ReplyDeleteMuch food for thought.
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly powerful story, both in the poem and outside it. What a brave and loving woman to continue saving the marriage after such betrayal. Your poem captures both sides of erotic love in stunning contrast, both in consensual love and where it turns to tear the promise apart. Using the weather to console, coming full circle as it does in rain is lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt's perfect, Heaven. You captured my raw emotions upon the discovery of his betrayal with this line:
ReplyDelete"like a forest fire raging out of control"
and this:
"pinned atop our heads, we slept spooning the moon"
captured the protection the Boundary Agreement provides along with the love I continue to hold for him despite his addiction. The strength we find in each other - you captured it perfectly.
The rain was perfect symbolism for our marriage. Thank you so much for this, you have no idea just how wonderful it is to read. You are so talented, Heaven.
xoxo
I am happy you like this Elsie ~ The symbolism of the rain holds promise and hope for your relationship ~
DeleteThanks again for letting share your story ~
"like all marriages a work in progress"... well, this one a bit more work than others! I hope they are able to "spoon the moon" for a long, long time. Great write.
ReplyDeleteGreat write.....so poetic...
ReplyDeletevery powerful. Slept spooning the moon is an equisite line!
ReplyDeleteThe rain feels like their union, their first kiss; a promise. There is no sort of lasting love without sacrifice and compromise. She has more strength than I can imagine. I like that there is a place for this story, in the memory of love that won't let go.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a real test to present opposing situations which became well balanced in the end. You did it here, most beautifully. Great write Heaven!
ReplyDeleteHank
for some reason "here comes the rain again" by the eurythmics was playing in my head while i was reading your piece. nice! hehe i know...me and music.
ReplyDeleteanyways. this is beautiful heaven, in a raw kind of way. hope that makes sense. :)
You have touched on a very sensitive topic here, and very pertinent for our times.
ReplyDeleteThis is really beautiful and powerful.
ReplyDeleteI love the opening and closing stanzas. You frame such an ugly addiction with such beautiful bookends. http://hoofprintsinmygarden.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteone of your best...enjoyed every line you have created here G
ReplyDeleteA difficult topic to write about. The photo went particularly well with how the feelings resonate. Very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteYes, not an easy subject to write ~ Thanks for the visit and compliments ~
DeleteThis is poignant, and sad, Heaven. I married a monster the first time around, at age 20, so my unwritten "contract" with my second (AMAZING, and no-need-for-said-contract) husband certainly contains many of these kinds of things, as obvious verbal agreements. Sad world, really.
ReplyDeleteThese lines are particularly beautiful:
"i remembered how sweet your first kiss was,
how soft your hands cupping my cheeks,
until your addiction for sun blurred the lines,
black tarred the flesh craving for flesh"
And of course, "spooning the moon" would make me swoon, under better circumstances.
de jackson
whimsygizmo.wordpress.com
Thank you De ~ Some relationships I guess need a written contract, while others just need a verbal agreements ~
DeleteSensual and sweet, sad and lingering as a long day's rain.
ReplyDeleteYour words came, like a gentle kiss in the pouring rain :)
ReplyDeleteI love the framing of the return of the gentle rain, and the central core of the memory--thus roll the waves of addiction. Beautiful writing! Thank you for the back story.
ReplyDeleteI loved the poem, even without the story which is both sad and inspiring. I especially loved the dotted i's and crossed t's.and also the cyclical structure, which adds a precious poise to the whole.
ReplyDeleteCaptured all feeling and emotion so well without melodrama
ReplyDeleteThis poem really works. It speaks of boundaries and is, itself, encompassed between the repeated first and last stanzas. Very clever. I love "we slept, spooning the moon". Interesting topic, and poignant, in how the beautiful beginning winds up with problems. Endemic in our society , it seems.
ReplyDeleteCleansing purity of rain sits so well with your sensuality, and the urine stalls make it all so much more of the earth.
ReplyDeleteThe rain pours through this write and the blues smoke its mirrors. Addiction rarely is healed by words. However, here you make it seem possible and the intimacy that is woven through the weather is forceful and brave. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this on first read, but after reading your note about your friend I went back and read it again, and that is when it suddenly popped right off the page. It moves me that your friend is able to trust and hold love tight even after the trust has been broken before. You captured the destruction of the addiction vs the unbroken beauty of their earlier relationship and the tender efforts to rebuild and repair... And all that with a weather prompt! Wonderful x
ReplyDeletethe words so gentle on so harsh a reality!
ReplyDelete"we slept spooning the moon" - could almost see a crescent moon above ya'll
and the author's note was a great touch; thanks so much
every word is captivating.
ReplyDeleteLovely poem Heaven. Elsie is a great person and she inspires people with her thoughts and honest and captivating posts. She has great narrating style and very sweet person. She is genuine and awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is true ode to her wonderful posts and lovely words. Good job Heaven.
Grace...
ReplyDeleteFriday the 13th.
FF55 Returns...Hope to see you.
The dirty urinal line was like being led into a dark closet and then turning on a bright flashlight. but the spooning was a nice gentle ending.
ReplyDelete~rick
This is beautiful and haunting and painful, all at once. You managed to show the love that shines through the pain.
ReplyDeletePowerful stuff on a tough subject. Well done.
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
Wow, heaven. This is such a powerful metaphorical write. I can't imagine the strength it takes to deal with something so painful. This is beautiful, sensitive and strong.
ReplyDeletewow this has been so deep and thoughtful write up !!
ReplyDeleteloved every word of it !!!
Glad to have found your blog
Wonderful poem, Heaven. Very powerfully done. I'm not sure that crossing t's and dotting i's always works, but very good poem. k.
ReplyDelete