The Perfumed Breath Of Lust
Sanaa -
April 25, 2018
Earlier PoemsPoetry

It blurs edges and swallows the
day, climbing inside the pores of
skin. It begins with an image as
sweet as sugar and erotic as grapes,
lending darker thoughts in the
hours of ache.

Lust is salty air and wide ocean
which leaves one longing for the
quietest moments, as chastity
long-preserved crumbles to dust.
It’s a thing of blood and heeds not
to the affections of heart.

It’s rough religion strips one of ease,
as night commences with cicadas
singing in the trees. Lust is a fruit
that lures and debauches the body
and mind.

 

 

Photo credits : Loui Jover, “Cocktail Drawing,” Pinterest

Posted for ‘Poems in April’ @ Real Toads

Posted on Poetry Pantry @ Poets United

50 Responses

  1. Rommy says:
    April 25, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    I like how you took the time to separate lust from love so that there is no question of what is going on here. The line break on the first was particularly nicely done.

    Reply
  2. gillena says:
    April 25, 2018 at 8:31 pm

    “Lust is salty air and wide ocean
    which leaves one longing for the
    quietest moments, as chastity”

    luv the distance you have shown between Lust and Chastity

    much love…

    Reply
  3. Rosemary Nissen-Wade says:
    April 25, 2018 at 8:54 pm

    What a wonderful title! And the poem continues with the luscious words and sensual images … until suddenly we are brought up short, confronting the nasty reality. Masterly!

    Reply
  4. Annell Livingston says:
    April 25, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    I love that it begins with cicadas. Longing is interesting to contemplate.

    Reply
  5. Marilyn Cavicchia says:
    April 26, 2018 at 12:34 am

    Very nicely done, Sanaa, and I just knew that you could write a great poem about lust. This is gorgeous and lush in its imagery.

    Reply
  6. kanzensakura says:
    April 26, 2018 at 1:59 am

    A lush and sensuous poem Sanaa. The distance between lust and chastity is clearly drawn. The last stanza is beautiful.

    Reply
  7. Vivian Zems says:
    April 26, 2018 at 2:00 am

    An evocative write! Love this: “..It’s rough religion strips one of ease,…” 💙

    Reply
  8. Ellecee says:
    April 26, 2018 at 2:38 am

    I love your, lesson of lust 🙂 You set such a beautiful scene where lust would be difficult to resist.

    Reply
  9. Eric says:
    April 26, 2018 at 4:33 am

    Oh wow this is good. Leans way over the precipice, then yanks back at the last moment…
    *whew*

    Reply
  10. Kim M. Russell says:
    April 26, 2018 at 7:34 pm

    What a powerful personification of lust, Sanaa:
    ‘It blurs edges and swallows the
    day, climbing inside the pores of
    skin…’

    Reply
  11. Bjorn says:
    April 27, 2018 at 3:33 am

    You are great at writing about lust… I just knew you would chose that vice… and a vice I think we should accept and embrace.

    Reply
  12. vandana says:
    June 17, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    The last stanza says it all…..

    Reply
  13. Old Egg says:
    June 17, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    Sadly lust is only a suggestive and sinful word when it come to sex. We can have a lust for life and other things which is creditable but when there is a suggestion of guilt we all shake our heads.

    Reply
  14. Mary says:
    June 17, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    Wonderful imagery. I like the idea of lust being a fruit that lures body and mind!

    Reply
  15. Thotpurge says:
    June 17, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    it is rough religion… oh l like that…

    Reply
  16. Magical Mystical Teacher says:
    June 17, 2018 at 9:55 pm

    I’m glad that you think grapes are erotic. I do too! 😉

    Reply
  17. Magaly Guerrero says:
    June 17, 2018 at 10:05 pm

    I like the tone of the piece, how the speaker sounds a bit frantic, as if Lust is right on her heels… making her feel all those things she both fears and seems to delight in.

    Reply
  18. Sherry Blue sky says:
    June 17, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    I love “lust is salty air and wide ocean”. Wonderful!

    Reply
  19. Chrissa says:
    June 17, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    A great image of something that beckons & then exhausts. I like the way you make the ocean an overwhelming image.

    Reply
  20. gillena says:
    June 17, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    Nice summary ending. It really is all that Sanaa

    much love…

    Reply
  21. suyash says:
    June 18, 2018 at 12:22 am

    oh my! reminds me of Jim Morrisson !

    Reply
  22. scott hastie says:
    June 18, 2018 at 1:30 am

    Like the way you have dived into this issue so wholeheartedly. Echoing the previous commenter who mentions Jim Morrison, I think there can also be a rich glamour to lust, which only enhances it’s seductive power and souls that are gloriously open can often be so vulnerable and fall foul to the lusts of others…

    Reply
  23. Donna@LivingFromHappiness says:
    June 18, 2018 at 4:42 am

    My goodness I could feel the deep ache and longing that lust can bring through your poem…

    Reply
  24. Rommy says:
    June 18, 2018 at 5:53 am

    Back for a second read and enjoying myself.

    Reply
  25. ayala says:
    June 18, 2018 at 7:05 am

    Ah lust…sigh…love the imagery in this poem.

    Reply

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