This is the soil that labors
beneath our feet, growing damp
with rain, with seeds
In late summer, a red blooming
that catches the sky's opal eyes
This is the leavening our bread
seeks, the grit our veins inhale
when our ribs twine
petal & spine
imagining light spilling over us
This is the river-sap that seeks
our bodies, every valley & groove
at rest, or rocking to birthing tides
The bones that shape your thighs strong
The fire that makes me arch my back
In the moonlight
This is our hunt & chase:
That we give & take
Each other's fruits, our tongues
running along this quicksilver blade-
Oh hold me, my fearless love-
Title & poem inspired by Judith Wright
Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Sunday's Challenge: Judith Wright
And Poets United ~ Thanks for the visit ~
Wow!! This is even better than the original :D
ReplyDeleteBeautifully penned :D
Lots of love,
Sanaa
The way you fill it with list and temptation instead of battles make me happier to read than Judith's version.. I guess both can exist.. Thank you for the great perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe 'give & take' of love is evidenced throughout this poem, Grace. And the final line is breath-taking!
ReplyDeletelove flowing back and forth between two, sure shined on through
ReplyDelete"This is the soil that labors" this line has so much pain and ecstatic joy...the whole poem is breathtaking...I'm speechless Grace...Wowzers!!
ReplyDeletewhen our ribs twine petal & spine..is my favourite line..how very primal we can be...should be perhaps..you have captured the essence of desire superbly
ReplyDeleteI, too, prefer this one. Masterful piece.
ReplyDeleteThat we give & take
ReplyDeleteEach other's fruits, our tongues
running along this quicksilver blade-
Cannot be better than that. One glides through but it won't be easy on a quicksilver plane!. Great lines Grace!
Hank
Good heavens, woman. This is hard-hitting poetry at its finest. Love, love, love every word! Great line breaks as well.
ReplyDeleteThese are my favorites:
"This is the leavening our bread
seeks, the grit our veins inhale
when our ribs twine
petal & spine"
"This is the river-sap that seeks"
Everything comes in pair when it comes to love. A very sensual piece, Grace.
ReplyDeletei agree with cricket about the line breaks.
"every valley & groove
ReplyDeleteat rest, or rocking to birthing tides"
Beautiful, Grace.
"The bones that shapes your thighs strong
ReplyDeleteThe fire that makes me arch my back"
Beautiful. Sensual. Deep sharing... a delicious love dance.
Wowzers! This one knocks my socks off. Especially powerful is the tongue running along the quicksilver blade.
ReplyDeleteDeep, sensual, real. Great.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting.
Who better to write a poem entitled 'Woman to Man' than you? You always take your reader deep beneath the surface of human relationships and remind us of the necessity of passion.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your featured poet's style.
A very sensual poem..the very bones of passion. My fav part
ReplyDeletein the moonlight
This is our hunt & chase:
That we give & take
This is so full of passion...the valleys and grooves, the give and take, the fruits...the arching of your back....wowza :-)
ReplyDeleteI am dreaming in anticipation :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful on the Ms. Wright prompt. I wish now that my mom or sis had given me the Birds and Bees talk. I might have changed my sex. For sure I would have ha a better understanding of my life mate earlier in life. Dad instead said that I already knew it all from watching the cows on our farm.
ReplyDelete..
Wow I am breathless reading these passionate words....truly a fabulous poem!
ReplyDeleteDonna@LivingFromHappiness
Lovely and sensual: the cadence beautifully echoing the give and take; the close ... wonderfully romantic and yet, as real as a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteand to this end like a river that flows into the mouth of an ocean, this is how love grows
ReplyDeletegracias, 'Grace-fully' said
A super sensual poem, Grace, that also has a wonderful earthiness and natural ness to it--very well done. The close works so well too--all really well integrated. Thanks for the great challenge. k .
ReplyDeleteWhat a glorious passionate poem.
ReplyDeleteI really like that line about birthing tides. This really made me stop and think. And I love that the whole thing has an undertone of almost discontent about it.
ReplyDeleteYou can sure take an inspiration and use it well!
ReplyDeleteThis is simply gorgeous, Grace.
ReplyDeleteOh so sensual, great poem.
ReplyDeleteThis is magnificent...so many lines I love but especially this, "a red blooming
ReplyDeletethat catches the sky's opal eyes" wow! Thank you for the inspiration!
Oh that love could ever be that fierce - and fearless. I like how you build it and build it through very passion-filled constructs as if to define it and maybe never quite. And the intimacy as you draw it to the close, running the tongue along the knife. That edge can be sharp. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteFYI, shape, not shapes.
beautiful G!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful, sensual...
ReplyDelete"the grit our veins inhale
ReplyDeletewhen our ribs twine
petal & spine"
What passion, really beautiful.
"the grit our veins inhale
ReplyDeletewhen our ribs twine
petal & spine"
What passion, really beautiful.
So earthy and amazing words, feelings so well expressed in your poem, Grace!
ReplyDelete