Your humble host has hinted at the deeper meaning of things, that sex is not the end, the goal, but rather the leap off the starting block.
Poet Sharon Olds has done it beautifully, and briefly, and better than I by a long shot. Not that I won’t delve into the topic again in prose, but her poetry summarizes so much and so well that I have to show it to you.
A little while ago we looked at a poetic suggestion by a Mr. Cavafy. Here, below, he tells a little tale of sudden attraction and subtle flirtation. It shows much of what we’ve discussed here before, and more.
I should maybe point out that C.P. Cavafy was a Greek poet, and his work either attracts very good translators or very naturally comes across well when brought to English. In any case, the loss of whatever meter and rhyme it began with doesn’t do any harm to a beautiful, insightful story.
It seems a pointless tragedy to waste time not loving. When you start looking, the number of poems and songs written to that effect is pretty startling.
Try to keep them, poet,
those erotic visions of yours,
however few of them there are that can be stilled.
Put them, half-hidden, in your lines.
Try to hold them, poet,
when they come alive in your mind
at night or in the noonday brightness.
Remember John Donne, who taught us that there is no penance due to innocence? He has some other items to entertain us, once we’re used to his 400-year-old form of English. In this, he regrets the dawn as lovers tend to, being called away from embraces to embrace the day.
How have I not included any poetry of Dante Alighieri before? That great poet of beloved Firenze may be most well-known for his Divine Comedy, but wrote many other poems too, some of which are perfect for entertainment in our Garden.
Many thanks to a reader who sent this lovely poem! It reminds me strongly of one that your humble and occasionally poetic host has written, and I’m very happy to have been introduced.
If Paul Curtis publishes a book of his love poetry, your grateful host will surely purchase a copy. Or two. Things like this are the sort of poem I love to write.
Paul Curtis does wander through the topics, and while I’ve decided to dedicate this month’s poetical offerings to his work, this is a bare beginning. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, he covers Christmas, childhood, teen life, poetic dirty jokes, and more.