One Hundred Degrees of Obsession (Poetry)
02nd December 2010
On waking he is there — the first thought
on her mind — the nerve that tingles
that long sigh released on morning’s air
his name a breath wistful in her throat
and everywhere about the room reminders
written in the body-dent of cushions
flicked ash from his cigarette
the wine glass he drank from sticky with the memory
of sweetness — the sun-filled grape crushed gladly
knowing it was ripe.
Last night his voice ruled each small space
touched the fabric — pulled the very thread
of her existence
its timbre like the faint insistent ache inside
a sea wind
that speaks to sailors who for all their promises
cannot resist that call.
What they talked of all those fascinating hours —
words piling into mountains vowel on vowel —
was lost in smoke rings hanging round the
dizzy heights
she, gazing down, suspended every moment —
savouring the anticipation of the journey and its end.
And afterwards he’d left that unsaid promise with her
acknowledging the link — that mystical attraction
so undeniable she’s sure he’d sensed it, too
and now she wills the phone to ring
imagining the pleasure — shy yet intimate
and their blushing conversation
the discovery of needs and passions —
all that holding-back fooled no one —
they have a history unfolding clear as fate.
She climbed the peaks of ecstasy all afternoon
planning what she’d say —
showered, scented, dressed for the occasion —
silk and lace for romance — singing all the while —
while she believed this time perfect bliss was certain —
set to stay.
The clock ticked on, the phone stayed mute
and her mood stuttered — fell from the pinnacle
of joy
into a melancholy crevasse —
her heart’s scream frozen numb.
Was Love doomed to fail again? That fear
played harsh upon her mind and a thin twist of agony
wounded faith in this — her towering fantasy — let doubt
whisper through emotion’s maze of sliding doors
ashamed of truth’s confession.
Evening found her wits were castaway
among a hundred islands
wrecked and drowning by degrees
in the quietly rocking unfathomable seas of deep
obsession.
on her mind — the nerve that tingles
that long sigh released on morning’s air
his name a breath wistful in her throat
and everywhere about the room reminders
written in the body-dent of cushions
flicked ash from his cigarette
the wine glass he drank from sticky with the memory
of sweetness — the sun-filled grape crushed gladly
knowing it was ripe.
Last night his voice ruled each small space
touched the fabric — pulled the very thread
of her existence
its timbre like the faint insistent ache inside
a sea wind
that speaks to sailors who for all their promises
cannot resist that call.
What they talked of all those fascinating hours —
words piling into mountains vowel on vowel —
was lost in smoke rings hanging round the
dizzy heights
she, gazing down, suspended every moment —
savouring the anticipation of the journey and its end.
And afterwards he’d left that unsaid promise with her
acknowledging the link — that mystical attraction
so undeniable she’s sure he’d sensed it, too
and now she wills the phone to ring
imagining the pleasure — shy yet intimate
and their blushing conversation
the discovery of needs and passions —
all that holding-back fooled no one —
they have a history unfolding clear as fate.
She climbed the peaks of ecstasy all afternoon
planning what she’d say —
showered, scented, dressed for the occasion —
silk and lace for romance — singing all the while —
while she believed this time perfect bliss was certain —
set to stay.
The clock ticked on, the phone stayed mute
and her mood stuttered — fell from the pinnacle
of joy
into a melancholy crevasse —
her heart’s scream frozen numb.
Was Love doomed to fail again? That fear
played harsh upon her mind and a thin twist of agony
wounded faith in this — her towering fantasy — let doubt
whisper through emotion’s maze of sliding doors
ashamed of truth’s confession.
Evening found her wits were castaway
among a hundred islands
wrecked and drowning by degrees
in the quietly rocking unfathomable seas of deep
obsession.