So I used the borrowed line from a poem by Andrew McMillan, ‘Strongman’. I’m using it as the title of the piece and then riffing off of it from there. Hope you enjoy:

Not Even A Minor Greek Would See As Fit To Sculpt

Us – in pieces,
viewed through
bedroom window.

The bronze of your skin,
marble of mine.
Cast here –

against the wall.
Call the piece
‘The Beast with Two Backs’;

study in love’s absence;
unwanted coupling.
Make show of this –

his back against
unpainted walls.
Mine to you

and feeling flesh press
to groin in drumbeats –
the same way that

a hammer beats
out metal until it can
never been seen as straight.

So I took this idea from Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘Drams’ which is a sequence of Haiku all surrounding shots (or Drams) of whisky. This one I wrote around Christmas and used Mistletoe as the conduit for the poem, so each Haiku represents a different kiss. Enjoy:

Mistletoe

First one; full throttle –
all tongue and rough, roaming hands
desperate for more.

Next; peck on the cheek
from old flame turned firmest friend –
reminded of us

as partners in crime
when we kissed with more passion;
a flame long snuffed out.

Third – the cute one from
work; flirting is a weapon
best wielded by me.

Then, friends from uni
at Christmas parties. Flavours
and textures plenty.

This one – both taken
but unable to resist the
temptation of lips

and eyes locked – perfect
prison for long kept passions;
our secret now, dear.

Last is the best – him,
the lover’s lips at your neck
before sinking deep

into wilderness;
into the deep of it, losing
yourself to longing.

So, following on from yesterday, I decided to stick with Grecian myth and my problematic obsession with the God of the Sea. I’ve always been fascinated by Poseidon but let’s just say I don’t think he’d make for a very stable long-term relationship (as hopefully explored a bit better in the Sonnet). Speaking of which, here it is:

Poseidon

What is it to be in love with the sea?
To feel the rough caress of the
Aegean; the cool bronze of a trident
against my skin. To have hours spent
among the coral, down in this bed
of weeds with him – my beloved
God. Feel his hands crossing the map
of my body, caught in his riptide trap;
in this maelstrom of sex and madness,
suddenly longing to be free of this.
Even the raging tides can be possessive –
clawing at the skin to, unable to forgive,
to grasp the scope of his unwelcoming depths.
I’m passing out from holding my breath…

So since it’s Earth Day and we are honouring the Earth in some form or another, I figured I’d take something out of ancient history/myth to honour; The Aegean, and by extension, Poseidon. Enjoy:

This is how you saw me;

another lost boy to be used

and I fell for it.

For the same

tired lines, tried and tested

lies.

 

You still smelled of the sea –

of salt and sand and paradise

and I was hooked on it.

A boy once more,

learning to love like

Gods do.

 

But that was long ago –

before the temple, the shouting

and I cheated.

Escaped your

clutches for one night, slight

relief.

 

And you still claim to want me;

be yours, be the lost boy you met

and I said nothing.

This was not

what I wanted. It was no longer

Paradise.

 

So I ran, swam for the shore.

Longing to find a new bed to frequent

and I found it.

I lay awake

terrified of the sounds of

the Aegean.