If you offer your soul i will take it and make a deal with some god.
If some god you offer, i will kneel before and pray.
If some prayer you give, then let it be sweet and bring me absolution.
If absolution you offer, then let us not think of this as sin.
If sin this be, then let us not follow that route.
If the route is narrow, let it be lined with berry kisses.
If berry kisses you give, may my mouth be ripe as raspberry
From your love may i be elavated as some angel.
If some angel i may be, then let her be one who is young, one with hope,
If hope you bring, may it be guarantee with tea.
If you make me blush, and if i then say Hush may you go gentle to the next.
If you loop your arm in mine, if slow we take our time,
If no sin then so begin, if absolution then hope.
So....
If you offer me your soul and we make some deal with god and before that god i kneel and he offers absolution, then let us follow the same route, arm in arm and looped, and if those kisses are infact berries,
then let them be right and ripe and leave us raw and wanting as some rainy day angel who descends bringing hope.
And if you make me blush, and if i laugh say Hush!
and if you promise to go gentle, if it is all of this and more,
then i will flush, pink and sweet, an angel of absolution
who falls to her knees from such bright laughter.
Love, we go slow, we go fast.
Feel the heart rush, blood fast to the body's four corners.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 22
I offer light.
As with all your poems that I have enjoyed so richly on this site, Xanthe, there is an exquisite mix of the intimate autobiographical voice and the awareness of all of language's possible registers, so the end result is both personal and formalistically delightful.
I feel you find your spirituality in love as your true path, through poetry as your genuine vocation.
A joy to read you again, my dear.
No ifs about it.
i've been absent because of the book i'm working on for my pub. but will be bck on when i feel i have something worthwhile to contribute.... i hate to contribute just chaff.... good stuff only, or at least, i can try....
The Beloved offering up love as the Speaker gathers in its fragments, its bits and pieces soon to coalesce into the whole of love's length, width and depth. The joy is apparent as it leaps from offering to offering and then to receiving these perfected gifts as a whole. All the pieces falling gracefully together at poem's end.
I particularly liked the way the poem was delivered in two section. The first section being questions and answers, a give and take, formulating the basis for a relationship. Then all of a sudden everything clicks and the pieces fall delightfully together.
Many lovely phrases here and the one I especially love was:
"If you make me blush, and if i then say Hush may you go gentle to the next."
It says to me that one has been touched at some intimate level and things can proceed to the next. This seems to be the core of these poetics. I love the patience and courting of love depicted here, as it is so lacking in today's world.
this poem is actually based on a real relationship and how it developed and it did work out this way and has worked out this way and still does (which is to say that the relationship is established but still has a courting aspect which is very old-world but is important to me and to him and so we remain old fashioned perhaps or maybe, just maybe, true romantics.... but then, we are both poets..... )
You are a very astute and good reader. I feel lucky that you have found me and like my work so very much. I like it when you read and translate. Being understood is half the battle when you are a poet.... as you well know....