Like a cigarette raised to eloquent lips,
desire
consumes one like the ocean
stretching itself until it’s only an inch away from toes.
In my mind
there is a constant echo
of the time I first saw you, the way our eyes met
across the hallway.
Tell me, is it just me
or was there something about the way wind blew
that made me want to reach out
since feeling was fresh with bloom–
I walk towards you in a velvet blue dress,
with the reminder of an errand stirring inside my breast.
It felt natural,
it felt like morning falling into easy rhythm
I am gloriously ignorant of years that are waiting to unravel themselves.
What was it about you
that drew me like moth to a flame?
I wonder up to this very day
as the sun turns a shade darker,
of berry, blush
and a thousand lifelong promises
crushed.
I refuse to dwell in the past,
to be honest I am bored with the idea of you,
it leaves me yearning
like a note slipped deep inside the pocket
like a secret
I am tired of longing for deep conversation, of silken skin to peruse
and embrace
in truth you are travesty, a lipstick smear
and a stain
I am dangerously close to changing my perspective.
Desire
is knowing I can’t have you.
Photo credits: Pinterest
Posted for the Tuesday Platform @ Real Toads
Posted on Open Link Night @ dVerse Poets Pub
72 Responses
Ah, I love this gentle unraveling of desire and its many components — the memories, the evoked emotions, the unsustainable feelings, the shifts in perspective, all capturing so well this yearning of the heart. This sentence stands out for me:
“I am dangerously close to changing my perspective. ”
And this one is so sure of how it feels at the very beginning:
“I walk towards you in a velvet blue dress,
with the reminder of an errand stirring inside my breast.”
Thank you so much, Anmol 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
WOW! I love the way the attitude shifts in the middle, and lines like “years that are waiting to unravel themselves” …you have given me goosebumps again, Sanaa!
Thank you so much, Timoteo 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
The life cycle of a flawed relationship. Desire for the person shifts to desire for anything but the long ache accompanying the relationship’s death throes.
Definitely 🙂 thanks for stopping by, Rommy ❤️
It is a good shift!
Thank you so much, Annell 😀 so good to see you ❤️
I love the walking forward like a morning falling into easy rhythm…..and was surprised in the second stanza at the changed perspective. The closing line is insightful. Well done.
Thank you so much, Sherry 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
I really love this poem Saana… it really made me see desire in new light, the way you tied it together…. but I wonder can we ever get rid of desire like this.?
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
.. all in due time 🙂
Wow, polemic, honest and sincere in a way that very few can capture . The lure, the entwining of hearts and the sad stretch or reality, you made this look easy. You are a star! Loved it!
Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Corey 😀 so glad you enjoyed it! ❤️
Delightful. I love the shifts of attitude and walking out into the new.
Thank you so much, Toni 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Desire is knowing I can’t have you
and when attained
loses its appeal
almost immediately
Love is just a conquest exercise for some…. for those who cannot abide the idea of not having everything they want.
Enjoyed this poem.
Thank you so much, Rall 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
That longing to have something which is just out of reach,: I remember it well. It is a great education to a youngster to realize that not all things are possible.
Definitely 😀 thanks for stopping by, Robin ❤️
And aren’t we lucky to be ignorant of the years yet to unravel? Changing perspective can be such a healthy thing. Nice work!
Thank you so much, Yvonne 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Perhaps most of us have\ participated in this scenario. Over a lifetime, lost loves litter the horizon like faded street signs. A terrific, sensual and personal poem thrice read and enjoyed.
Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Your take on desire is refreshing and filled with poetic heart and soul.
Truly, I love what you’ve captured in this poem for all of us to feel.
Thank you so much, Charlie 😀 so good to see you ❤️
Wow, Sanaa! These are stunning lines:
‘desire
consumes one like the ocean
stretching itself until it’s only an inch away from toes’
and
‘as the sun turns a shade darker,
of berry, blush
and a thousand lifelong promises
crushed’.
And then the unravelling…
Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Kim 😀 so glad you liked it! ❤️
If desire is all there is, once you get the object, you have to start looking for another one.
Definitely 🙂 thanks for stopping by, Jane ❤️
Yes Jane, abrogation of desire is a path to peace, but also seems less alive, Nirvana to me actually seems too monistic and detached to feel alive, but I have not lived life through that lens. Perhaps desire is a servant of a higher master, wonderful but not of itself sustainable?
❤️❤️❤️
That last line speaks volume.
Thank you so much, V.J 😀 so good to see you ❤️
The contradiction can be perplexing but I think this is all superficial, not really deeply rooted.
I like this ending: Desire
is knowing I can’t have you.
Thank you so much, Grace 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Beautifully deep and eye opening. Reminders to stay away from potential stains no matter the strong desires.
Thank you so much, Lyn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Desires and longings are always delicious , if dangerously so …
Definitely 😀 thanks for stopping by, Pratibha ❤️
There is no greater wanting than of that which we cannot have. Beautiful!
Thank you so much, Linda 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Wow, Sanaa! I love how the mood and perception shifts theoughout the poem:
‘I am gloriously ignorant of years that are waiting to unravel themselves’
and
‘in truth you are travesty, a lipstick smear
and a stain..’
Hot damn! 💙
Thank you so much, Priya 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Beautiful,. Love this part -‘you are a travesty, a lipstick smear”
Thank you so much, Candace 😀 so good to see you ❤️
ahhh, the bitter love poem — well done
Thank you so much, Sabio 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
“I refuse to dwell in the past,
to be honest I am bored with the idea of you,
it leaves me yearning
like a note slipped deep inside the pocket ”
YES! Great poem. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Arcadia Maria 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
you’ve created a smoldering but at the same time poignant intimate portrait here
Thank you so much, Jade 😀 so good to see you ❤️
Your wonderful memories crushed and left to the past … it always hurts! You wove the story so well, I was expecting happily ever after and was sad with you when that did not happen! Someone once told me, “Life happens when we have other plans!”
Well done!
Definitely 🙂 thanks for stopping by, Dwight ❤️
There’s wisdom gained through the pain of following our desires and finding disappointment…powerful write of lust lost.
Thank you so much, Lynn 🙂 so glad you liked it ❤️
amazing imagery specially the ocean surging up…and desire is a desire, never fulfilled, a miracle if it is..lovely write and I may add .. . a deep inner longing effect’
Thank you so much, Anjum 😍 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Nice description of desire as an ocean “stretching itself until it’s only an inch away from toes”
Thank you so much, Frank 😀 so good to see you ❤️
I really like this piece Sanaa, reflecting back on past encounters. Interesting that you and I both touched on memories of past desires, but me nostalgically, and you with apparent regret. You expressed your reflection very well! Also, excellent pic!
Thank you so much, Rob 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
When desire meets reality the questions multiply.
Definitely 🙂 thanks for stopping by, Kerfe ❤️
Builds up so seductively with all the desire of first love, passion and then leaves it all smouldering and then wow, changes to ashes! Beautifully written Sanaa.
Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Georgina 😀 so glad you enjoyed it! ❤️
Evocative and sensual–as I’ve come to expect! 🙂
Beautiful, Sanaa!
Thank you so much, Frank 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Love the unravelling in the last verse, in particular,the line “like a note slipped deep inside the pocket “
Thank you so much, James 😀 so good to see you ❤️
This is alive and beautiful, a lot of comments about watching out for those desires and how they are superficial etc., but I find the exposition of those desires here beautiful and alive, and to be treasured and remembered and treasured even if kept deep within a pocket. The shifts occur with such rhythm and fluidity that time in this poem seems to not so much be an arrow, but the thing itself still wrapped up altogether all together.
I especially love
“ I wonder up to this very day
as the sun turns a shade darker,
of berry, blush
and a thousand lifelong promises
crushed. “
Lines which cast the certainty of the last stanza into wondering. Time is a tricky puzzle, love and silent pockets more so. Lovely Sanaa! 💜
Thank you so much, Lona 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️