Disclosed on the cliffs of heart
Sanaa -
June 19, 2018
Earlier PoemsPoetry

Outside golden light
gleaming soft upon my skin.
Such a strong sense of you
as I bend towards sleep,
exchange a smile that’s shyly
lewd, mournful and serene.
Night grew quiet as I recalled
brutality and sadism that
seem to appear in cyclical pattern.

 

Photo credits: Pinterest

Posted for ‘Quadrille #59′ @ dVerse Pub

And on ‘Tuesday Platform’ @ Real Toads

66 Responses

  1. Frank says:
    June 19, 2018 at 5:05 am

    Nice description of that smile as “shyly
    lewd, mournful and serene”.

    Reply
  2. kanzensakura says:
    June 19, 2018 at 5:07 am

    Wonderful description of the moon but oh, that brutality and sadism. It seems you are well shut of him.

    Reply
  3. Strawberry Abbey says:
    June 19, 2018 at 6:19 am

    The ambiguity in the ending makes me wonder if the cycles are yours or your beloved’s. I do like the interesting twist at the end.

    Reply
  4. Kathy Reed says:
    June 19, 2018 at 7:47 am

    Both romantic and abusive…happens more often than we realize.

    Reply
  5. Grace says:
    June 19, 2018 at 8:00 am

    It starts deceptively soft but these lines say otherwise:

    brutality and sadism that
    seem to appear in cyclical pattern.

    Reply
  6. V.J. says:
    June 19, 2018 at 8:34 am

    Twist at the end took me by surprise. There is more to this story.

    Reply
  7. Reena Saxena says:
    June 19, 2018 at 10:26 am

    The picture is ethereal, the beginning romantic and then, it dips into …… a reflection on life and love.

    Reply
  8. Dwight L. Roth says:
    June 19, 2018 at 11:32 am

    Very interesting poem…. You gave just enough to make one wonder…does she or doesn’t she//
    Dwight

    Reply
  9. Jo-Anne says:
    June 19, 2018 at 12:14 pm

    Believed your poem to be going in one direction, but the brutality and sadism line slammed the melancholy door shut. Some complex emotion there..

    Reply
  10. Kim M. Russell says:
    June 19, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    Oh Sanaa, reading this was painful. You’ve described the cycles of abuse so well in 44 words. xxx

    Reply
  11. erbiage says:
    June 19, 2018 at 5:23 pm

    like coming up for a breath of air, before being submerged in torment again. gruesome and gripping.

    Reply
  12. Thotpurge says:
    June 19, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    lewd, mournful and serene… that is quite a smile!

    Reply
  13. Annell Livingston says:
    June 19, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    I am left without words……

    Reply
  14. Vandana says:
    June 19, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    For some time it felt like a beautiful dream, but in the end it washed away

    Reply
  15. Jane Seymour says:
    June 19, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    I too was taken by surprise at the end. Chilling!

    Reply
  16. Magaly Guerrero says:
    June 19, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    What an ending! The last few lines are terrifying all by themselves, but reading them after experiencing the tenderness of the beginning makes them even more explosive. Like abuse, which is more painful because most abusers don’t do it all the time.

    Reply
  17. Chris Evans says:
    June 19, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    It is as Muscio says ‘Abuse is the means in which violence retards love.’

    Reply
  18. Colleen LOOSELEAFNOTES says:
    June 19, 2018 at 10:27 pm

    I don’t bend towards sleep, but lean. What a surprise ending just when I was thinking romantically.

    Reply
  19. Kerry says:
    June 19, 2018 at 11:19 pm

    There is a wonderful contrast in these lines:

    exchange a smile that’s shyly
    lewd, mournful and serene.

    Reply
  20. Rall says:
    June 20, 2018 at 12:26 am

    Abuse is not worth any romantic lovely experience. It eventually destroys you. Get out now.!

    Reply
  21. Sherry Blue Sky says:
    June 20, 2018 at 12:38 am

    That glance, “shyly lewd, mournful and serene” strikes me…..I understand why it is mournful after reading the closing lines.

    Reply
  22. Elaine Huang says:
    June 20, 2018 at 3:35 am

    The closing left me absolutely breathless! Phew!

    Reply
  23. gillena says:
    June 20, 2018 at 3:43 am

    Interesting and surprising. Leaving questions in the mind of the reader makes for mystery also. Happy you dropped by my blog today Sanaa

    Much♥️love

    Reply
  24. Sara McNulty says:
    June 20, 2018 at 4:42 am

    Love the painting, and your description of her smile!

    Reply
  25. Cara O' Donoghue says:
    June 20, 2018 at 5:11 am

    You have packed a lot of emotion into this quadrille! If you ever get that gut feeling that something isn’t right about a person or situation, trust it.

    Reply
  26. Frank J. Tassone says:
    June 20, 2018 at 8:44 am

    So sensual and inticing, but oh, that twist in the last lines! A marvelous write, Sanaa! 🙂

    Reply
  27. Janice says:
    June 20, 2018 at 8:54 am

    A portrait of mixed feelings and memories artfully portrayed Sanaa.

    Reply
  28. Vivian Zems says:
    June 21, 2018 at 1:14 am

    From soft to brutal- wrapped in eloquence!

    Reply
  29. Mary (cactus haiku) says:
    June 21, 2018 at 1:43 am

    a very sensual poem with an interesting twist at the end

    Reply
  30. Amaya says:
    June 21, 2018 at 5:04 am

    Whoa, a foreboding turn of one’s passion.

    Reply
  31. Carrie Van Horn says:
    June 21, 2018 at 5:13 am

    This is truly lovely Sanaa!!

    Reply
  32. Pat says:
    June 21, 2018 at 9:16 am

    Such a strong sense of you
    as I bend towards sleep, –

    these are my favorite lines, especially the idea of bending towards sleep – what a very interesting and fascinating image this paints – how intimate –
    and as others have said, quite the abrupt twist in the ending – quite the counterpoint, all in 44!

    Reply
  33. Bjorn Rudberg says:
    June 24, 2018 at 3:25 am

    When only moon can soothe… torment and abuse is so chilling… may it just end

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *