Poem inspired by the title of Christina Rossetti’s poetic masterpiece, I loved you first: but afterwards your love
Moodily, the crepe crescent appears in the sky
perhaps it seeks validation–
this moment that holds significance as I gaze overhead,
it’s been a while.
I loved you first: but afterwards your love outshone mine,
gifting in return songs of innocence
and experience.
There are days when I picture your face
amid the clouds
knowing well the blossoms shake themselves off the tree
where your scent has touched them.
With the dust of sleep upon my eyes I wake,
gentle tremors reverberate under sheets with subtle anguish;
it defies reason,
greyish-blue reflection of sky with bits of moss press urgently
into my hand
as though urging me to align my breath with yours—
allow me to touch you, ever so lightly
your lips hold the universe in their frame;
without you,
the world at large is a hieroglyph corridor, incomprehensible.
Photo credits: Pinterest
For my prompt, where I invite others to write inspired
by the works of Rossetti 💝 Come join us!
Posted for Weekly Scribblings @ Poets and Storytellers United
26 Responses
I like the way you took the essence of Christina Rossetti’s poem and made it your own, Sanaa. I especially love the atmosphere you created in the opening line, and the lines:
‘There are days when I picture your face
amid the clouds
knowing well the blossoms shake themselves off the tree
where your scent has touched them.’
Thank you so much, Kim 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Oh, what a wonderful turn-around of Rossetti’s poem! Brilliantly done.
Thank you so much, Rosemary 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
How true this is to accept that love outlasts appearances.
Thank you so much, Robin 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
So beautifully and wonderfully done!
“where your scent has touched them…”
Once I was grappling things them spaces.
Thank you so much, Hazel 🙂 so good to see you 💄❤️
Sanaa, for me this fit in with your theme and the painting so very nicely. I will claim your line, “with the dust of sleep upon my eyes I wake,” solo visual and novel idea for me.
And thank you for this such a fruitful prompt. I may write towards another of his ladies on another day.
p.s. I did not post my painting as I thought my juvenile readers, family and others, might not be ready for all this, it was the one of the lady holding an apple, one breast revealed.
I did link the painting’s title but you may need with the header categories to get it in.
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Thank you so much, Jim 🙂 so glad you liked it. I agree, some paintings aren’t fit for juvenile readers, family and others to witness 💄❤️
A beautiful poem, the fashion art made me wish I had lived in that era.
Thank you so much, Helen 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Beautiful. I love the line “without you, the world at large is a hieroglyph corridor, incomprehensible.” I was there, once upon a long time ago.
Thank you so much, Beverly 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
The image in your last line is so clever, just perfect
Thanks for dropping by to read mine, Sanaa
much💝love
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Much love …
I really like how you took her words and made them dance with your own and with your style. Your expansion of the quote says so much of the speaker and subject.
Thank you so much, Magaly 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
This is so beautiful…. magnificent writing as only your ink can share
Awwww gosh! Thank you so much, Susie 😀 so glad you liked it! 💄❤️
When breaths are aligned with each other, magical things happen!
Most definitely! 😉 Thanks for stopping by, MMT 💄❤️
One of my favourite Rossetti poems. I like the way that you have built in a bit of the sass I was talking about with the “gentle tremors reverberate under sheets” where there is a sensuality to the longing not just of being in love but in the act of making love. Felt again in the kiss that holds the universe within. It is a love the encompasses the whole of someone. Beautiful.
Thank you so much, Lori 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
this was just beautiful to behold. the accompanying art and the work itself describes this night exactly. windows open, the breeze coming in and the beautiful moon? such beauty!
“With the dust of sleep upon my eyes I wake”
Such a lovely image. Christina Rossetti would have been proud
to call this poem her own.