In Midweek Motif this week, in the Poets United poetry blog, the theme is: “Bittersweet”. Here is my poetical offering:
Sweet Bitterness
The wine you offered, Love,
Was ruby-red,
sweet muscat;
A fine vintage
with a rich bouquet,
A velvet taste
that lingered on the palate,
But the
aftertaste, so bitter!
The kiss I took
from you, Love,
Was fragrant,
fruity, dulcet:
From lips so
red, and smiling,
A kiss so freely
given, remembered evermore,
And yet the
aftertaste, so bitter!
Your
softly-spoken words, Love,
Honeyed,
soothing, like balsam!
My ears
unstopped, to hear, to listen,
Words full of
harmony, like music
But their echoes,
a cacophony.
The soft
caresses, Love,
We gave each
other liberally,
Cloud-soft,
candied, pleasant,
Soothed away all
pain, healed all wounds;
And yet, they
left deep aching scars in their wake.
You are a sweet
bitterness, Love,
You enchain us
all with gossamer,
You wound with
feathers and you heal with thorns;
You nourish us
with mellow poison
And we starve
when we have surfeit of it.
Love, you’re
contrary, and your steadfastedness
Betrays all
trust, punctures all boats of hope;
You lift us up
to heaven, only to dash us down to Tartarus,
You give us
strength, only with silken threads
To captivate and
weaken us, making of us in our death, immortals.
