In reaching, I
stretched too high
And fell farther than I had managed to climb.
A pit, a cocoon, a great field of darkness
Lay beneath my feet.
Through its center, falling,
I knew what had seemed so real
Was construct only,
The brilliance mere reflection.
No substance within.
The passion and energy
A myth created from an old movie.
Why would I fall for a character
Created to beguile and sell popcorn?
Yet from this character I crafted a dream
That seemed almost human.
Reaching for the dream,
I caught the edges and held tight
To find that dreams, like clouds
While grand and beautiful
Cannot bear much weight
And clinging to the towering edifice of clouds
Is a good way to die.
Still, the beauty is undeniable.
The lesson to be learned?
Don’t count on clouds and never try to fly
Without wings.
Now What, Mama?
So much my mama
didn’t teach me,
Now lost to memory.
What’s next, how do I handle the lies?
It’s not them. But they confess and the lie is proven.
It’s in the closet but you’ve talked to the thief
And seen pictures of the truth along with red dresses in strange
places.
There’s no letter, I don’t save them
But the thief has done a forward move
And the letters now there are before you.
How much more truth will the thief expose
And where has the treasure been hidden
And who else will join in this auction?
I won’t play, won’t raise my card
No proof of the lies have I needed for years.
It is his nature
Sting and we both go down.
So now what Mama? What do I do with the lies?
Autumn Passion
Discovering the fire
that waits within
awakened by the heat of your desire
I drink new innocence robbed from me by fate
and wander like a nubile youth again
in fields greening with our bodies new desire
But never youth has known
that glow where new lovers echo shadows of those past
and bodies well used to life
come once more alive at the touch of
passion no childhood has ever known
and perfection is defined by
questing senses fired by sensuality
back lighted by
the moon
by Amanda di Cuvrais*
I stand back lighted
by the moon
in a doorway open to your gaze
my secrets all revealed for you to see
if you but look
seeking, turning
my eyes fooled by the light
I can feel you there
but hidden from my view
off in the darkness
still back lighted by the moon
I shed my cloak
and enter the deeper shadows
knowing that I will always
be the first to stand naked
to shed the secrets
and offer all that I am
for you to see
while you will look
from where you sit hidden
in the darkness
breathing
*Norla Antinoro
writing as Amanda diCuvrais
Drums
Something about a
drum
that catches our attention,
a primal ancient rhythm to
underlie our melodies.
Drums of passion,
drums of war,
drums of need,
and drums of sweet surrender,
beat with the heart's own rhythm.
If I But Could
if I had the art
I would craft for you
a tiny crystal vision
a perfect image of delight
holding love
and sweet serenity
just so I could see you smile
Limits Lost
Wandering on an
endless plain
I lost my way
and suddenly there were edges
and I did not know them.
Wandering this land
my feet sought limits
and seeking did not find them, lost again.
The better to find my way
I cast aside my shoes
going barefoot along the plain.
The better to feel the wind
I cast aside my attire
and went naked into the storm.
Barefoot and naked I searched,
looking for the limits of love.
Seeking limits I found magic.
Look Again
Wounded child I look
at love
and see confusion;
fear stalks every kiss
and horror shadows
the stroke of a hand
on my hair.
Battered woman I look at love
and see walls
and doors with steel locks.
Rage shadows
the touch of his
grip contending with mine.
Healed, I look at love
and see the touch of a friend
and the glow of passion;
comfort and freedom shadow
the touch of his skin
against mine.
love song
a second heart beat
heat becomes my centre
full and heavy
my lover's hair like silk
across my face
his scent a perfume
softer than firelight
come to me singing
breath to breathlessness
enter and explore
the wanton fire that waits
fingers brush sweet flame
stir it into roaring conflagration
as he consumes me
and tastes the wine of my surrender
need whispers new words
into my secret depth
and i submerge
my flame to his
his need to mine
replete
Mandy Died
Mandy died in the
night
and I gave her body to the river
along with all my tears
for the promise unfulfilled
for the wasted years
for things that never were and will not be.
She tried for one last perfect flight
but when she could not spread her wings
her heart broke.
That’s when she curled up and died in my arms,
shadow lover too late discovered,
I would have kissed her better if I’d known.
My Dark
Obsession
I have fed your ego
With words and tears and years
Your swelling pride
Stands forth proclaiming
“mine” and holding tight.
This then is my obsession
This dark love
This passion.
night is liquid
velvet
Fever pitch...
My heart beats a wild rhythm—
no other need for drums.
My senses soar
through the liquid velvet of the night
as your lips leave a burning trail
through my center,
across breasts, lingering to taste…
grazing, sampling a path from heart
to soul through body
as you plunder….
Music becomes me
as the breeze across my skin
awakens senses left sleeping far too long.
The only light a path of moon struck silver
dazzling off the river
through my casement.
My passion becomes
a candle of black light
filling the air with darkness
and heat,
flickering.
Reality constricts to
one point
and my explosion
fills the night with
kaleidoscopic color—
waterfalls of light,
rivers of darkness,
dwindling to the simple peace
at last of the quiet
touch of silken skin on mine
Masquerade
The mask slipped
just a little
and I could see the color of your eyes
glinting briefly in the lamp light
just before you pulled your cloak
around you once again
and faded into the
mystery of the shadows
we laughed
and danced
twining through the smoke of eros
seeing once and once again
that glint of mystery
of hidden
of want just filled
of need just out of reach
fingertips to fingertips
skin to skin
and there in the flickering shadows
where the lamplight warms the night
once again
I hear a hint of your voice
see your face
and your lusty smile to send us off to sleep
What need
seduction
Will you seduce me?
Can you take me there
with a look or a touch?
While my mind is focused on the more mundane
will you drop a word that has a deeper meaning
known only to your memory and mine?
From the last touch of your fingertips on my skin
my body remembers you -
your sound, your taste, your scent.
When memory suffices,
what need seduction?
Merely say “here, in this place, now, come to me”
and my body sings.
