Conceiving the Son of Peace by Richard Paez¬Conceiving the Son of Peace
She lays passive in my lap,
cold and hard and tentative,
indifferent to my maelstroms yet
needing my touch to give her meaning –
my firm grip, just one stroke
then she’ll grow hot and burst,
bark in my grasp, release
this pressure I’ve been holding.
In the aftermath
our ghosts will trace significance,
ascribe intentions,
expect to find some sort of meaning
inscribed in this mess
but sometimes love is meaningless,
and we know where this is going –
some things are preordained.
I could open my mouth wide, let her in –
feel, if only for a moment,
that opening, that warm, wet
flowing – if only just this once
to let go, give in, know freedom,
to know that she revolves at my touch,
that her only restraint
is my hesitation.
I wonder if this is how it was for you, brother.
How long did you hesitate, and what form did it take?
Did you come back, time again, guilty with her touch?
Or was it sudden, giving in to mutual intensity?
Did you sit here as I do, holding and caressing her,
enraptured by her blasé potential, her cold lips
always just a moment from that first kiss,
and the last – the ultimate seduction:
open wide and be blown away?
02/09/2011 Posted on 02/09/2011 Copyright © 2023 Richard Paez
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Rula Shin on 04/04/11 at 08:15 PM Hmmm...very interesting Richard haha ...let me say that it's a bit mysterious (in SOME ways) though one surely can guess at who 'she' may be, but I am rather taken aback at the title with this kind of body. Whether right or wrong in my interpretation, this does make me think in terms of 'conceiving Peace', or let's say that not conceiving at all would also mean less conflict. However, the son of this 'blase' temptress also gives peace in the very conception, the 'blown' aspect if you get my drift (because I do think I get yours.) The release of energy here seems to cause a lot of conflict for the subject as this release also involves a death of 'potential.' I must say you always have a very intensely clever way of describing such self gratifying scenes (I seem to remember another of your poems 'A Million Killed with One Shot' is it? This title to this day I recall from memory because again, I thought it not only very skillfully written (and initially full of dramatic mystery), but I also found it to be, after the initial laughter that came out of me upon realizing its subject, quite serious. Yes, a million killed with one shot...and yes, the Son of Peace is a dead son...definitely a serious perspective accounting for the intense conflict I see in this creative and provoking piece of yours Richard. That's what I see. Well done! :-) |
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