Seduction, or: Blank canvas

Poetry Partners #23

‘The Art of Seduction’, a poem by C L Barton of ‘Linnets Sing in the Trees’

Desire adventures in Turkey and Greece,
a thief's attracted
by what's
kept out of reach.

Stay with something forbidden

reading poetry and kissing
become permissible.

Hear the call of appearance,
the Devil in this dark
was a fallen angel.
The lovely marble creature.
His eyes had saying of a go-between,
but permanent pouches beneath them.

Hearts and eyes go travelling
along the paths that have
whatever it takes.

Many have a hard time living up to retribution, remorse, or
responsibility

drawn to those who
prostitute,
confuse politeness with happiness

As adults, we secretly want to recapture that lost
passion poetized by
Baudelaire.

That is what makes a married man or woman
such a delicious bachelor's pied-à-terre.

It's not your wife's beauty but your own;
she was chaste and you pursued her.
“Kiss my hands," she said through the bars.
"Now kiss the hem of my harmony.”

Our Lord
wanted compromise. How can we explore
the shadow side of our person?
God gave Eve the freedom.

He would give her from morning until night

they began to make love on
the
deep, anxious night
floor -
anger is a subject, a slave, a
plaything;
frustration,
un-forbidden
– alternating harshness of subsidiary flirtations
and...
and...
and
kindness.

Emotions serve being, so that the heart
stands still.

• C L Barton: https://clbarton.wordpress.com/

A Shakespearean sonnet by ben Alexander of ‘The Skeptic’s Kaddish’

As by daylight, he just couldn't stay home,
Burning desire somehow would have to wait.
Still, she would always smile while off he'd roam,
For no other knew his desperate weight.

Lying open on table, wooden, hard,
Pale skin by soft-flickering candle flame,
Covetous, looking for his rough regard,
Eager his strokes, his sighing thrusts to tame.

Feeling his firm, lengthy shaft upon her,
She beckons her beloved darling in.
Together, they wage impassioned, fierce war,
Stains left drying on fine, delicate skin.

And when her love finished his masterpiece,
The journal lay back, spent ~ her need released.

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Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

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List of Poetry Partners