Sunday, July 17, 2011

December 11th by Anne Sexton


December 11th
by Anne Sexton

Then I think of you in bed,
your tongue half chocolate, half ocean,
of the houses that you swing into,
of the steel wool hair on your head,
of your persistent hands and then
how we gnaw at the barrier because we are two.

How you come and take my blood cup
and link me together and take my brine.
We are bare.  We are stripped to the bone
and we swim in tandem and go up and up
the river, the identical river called Mine
and we enter together.  No one's alone.

From:  "The Best American Erotic Poems", page 95

9 comments:

Kelly said...

Whoa! This is certainly a hot and steamy one! :)

Speaking of...Sorry you had AC problems. My daughter's went out (in Ruston) and she spent over a week trying to get it replaced! I visited her one day and it was over 90 in her apartment!

Glad you still had a wonderful birthday, though! ((HUGS))!!

Marion said...

Thanks, Kelly. I picked a poem to match the weather...smokin' and steamy. LOL! (We bought a window unit to hold us till our repairman gets back from vacation and it cools exactly 1/4 of the house so we're camped out in that part.) xo

Janelle Goodwin said...

Yes, that certainly was sexy and steamy! I never thought of poems being erotic until now. Great stuff!

Marion said...

Janelle, that book has some amazing poetry. I enjoy anthologies because they introduce me to so many new poets. Blessings!

ds said...

Wow. She certainly knew how to write. Thanks for sharing this, Marion, and I hope the weather becomes less steamy for you soon.

quid said...

You know how much I love this book, and this poem. Thanks for giving it to me!

Sorry to hear about the AC....mine went out 3 weeks ago for 2 days. Unbearable. Then last week, the condenser blew in my car, so I drove for 3 days or so before I could get it fixed.

Sigh. They are all overworked in FL and LA!!!

quid

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Portland weather is in the low 60s with rain showers all day. Not at all in keeping with much of the rest of the country or with the smart, sexy, steamy, poem. I am thinking of mint juleps, Tennessee Williams, and Maggie the Cat.

Thanks for including the anthology -- it will go on my wish list!

Wine and Words said...

Mmmmm. Tongue half chocolate, half ocean. I don't write eroticism well. I have a hard time with intimacy...in life, and you might think I could write it as an actor would play a part, but even then I have trouble. I've moved the book to my Amazon wish list. Damn that thing is getting full :)

Love you My Marion.

* said...

Do you ever know you need something but don't know until you stumble into it? That's what this was for me today - Anne Sexon's December 11th. Definitely.