by bell hooks
spying on your love
on naked hands
as they move to touch her
and make her over
another woman
marked by the embrace
of a man
known to leave scars
33.
to cut
and cut
the heart
another weapon
i can use
its pointed sharp edge
the very tip of desire
pierces you
brings you to the
ecstatic red of the cut
and the blood
that is love’s last moment
to tarry and sup together
in remembrance
34.
bring me angels
to keep away hurt
shield and solace
offer divine sanctuary
in love there
is no need to find
a hiding place
and when beloved
you come again
i will know your face
and speak your name
35.
saint antonio
oh you who are able
to bring back the lost
i beseech you
he was the only body
i could ever love
like a brother he was to me
he would kiss me
tenderly touch braided hair
and let me put my ear
close to the place
where no heart beats
and there is only the sound
of a closing door
in that place where memory forgets
so there can be no more pain
kneeling with all that remains
left precious and whole
sweet flesh in my mouth
where i call to jesus
and he comes to me
to guard us here
as we search in the dark place
for you beloved
who are able
to bring back the lost
36.
love if you were
a reader of hearts
you would know
such longing
must never speak
or seek a listening here
where he takes my hand
and i am not ready to be
born a child again
not ready to forget
there is no death
not now
all sweetness gone
the hard heart still
and charming allure
all eager to speak
to my heart
to talk its way back in
here let me hurt you
with my sight
hold out your hands
the future tells me
everything is always lost
there is nothing
only departure and ending
it is best to stay silent
and keep away
37.
love
looked down on
belittled judged
and unable to bear
the heart’s weight
can never last
for time will make it
tired and worn
it will grow hard
rage will
overcome desire
and we will forget
what it was like
to know each other
without eyes and testimony
38.
sweet sacrifice
a finger in each mouth
to carry away all praise
i have had to offer
body parts
to let go hands that solace
eyes that hold her
captive heart
with just one look
to let go touch
render strange
and unfamiliar
this killing passion
39.
empty now
the red chair
where i sit
to write of love
no naked body easing down
opening hard
in this rocking of
our bodies
as we join
and move again
breast to breast
i face your hunger
wet and in need
we came here always
to this meeting place
where now there is only
silence quiet breathing
and the sound of
words moving against words
40.
if true love died
before we ever had
a chance to see
what it would be
if we were really free
to make promises
and speak the heart
then we would not need
to be sent grace
in innocent flesh
or given sacrifice
i leave a bit of my heart
on this altar
flesh to take home
naked and young
the way we would have been
i leave a taste of mystery
of love undeclared
let him
eat away grief
41.
when angels speak of love
they tell us
all is union and reunion
dying reborn again
there is no separation
no end to paradise
we are always present
the ecstatic moving us
along each current
each wilderness of spirit
a dedicated path
42.
ever dark prince
yearns with all the
passion of the cross
sanctified satanic wish
to seduce and sacrifice
love’s innocence
making it serve flesh
kneeling at the phallic altar
drinking in the seed of
his revenge
43.
how hard
and sweet
this taste of flesh
enchanting
chameleon
seductive trace
tenderly taken love
the snake
guarding
the palace of bliss
to enter
there is only
one open door
44.
outside
in the passage
between life and death
love waits
counts in unrecorded rhythm
hours minutes
each moment matters
speak now my heart
say when how
which way
only now
before time is no more
45.
i gave my heart
and in return
a heart is given
no lasting body
no definite trace
strangers kneel
in the same temple of love
i thought my heart
alone belonged
connect the unfamiliar
claim mystery
in deep history
heaven’s new frontier
my own and
not my own
46.
love
should not come
in such a way
i cannot know
the heart’s yearning
i dreamed a prince
a frog destiny
everything alchemically
turning
into pure gold
love
should not defy desire
make me over
flesh
make me ready
kill the illusion
let truth submit
and every sacred vow
hold fast
47.
eve
ry dark prince
courts me with words
tames the imagination
puts his tongue
in my mouth
speaks tenderly
to my heart
to love left lonely
uncovers secrets
becomes the interpreter
of desire
seduces my soul
with each narrative of surrender
48.
every prince
in the book
of love
journeys
from a faraway
dark place
finds an angel
of mercy
to shelter and shield
him from pain
he enters my dreams
tells me
i can find my true desire
if i follow
the heart’s labyrinth
show naked courage
and a will to give all
yet when we meet
and i have finally
come home
he is already
leaving
already mapping his return
to the land
where the royal one
sleeps alone in a place
without light
49.
once
only men
could become
angels
offering the promise
of divine love and
eternal bliss
then one by one
they fell from grace
seduced by death’s allure
boldly they surrendered
the promise of paradise
claiming pain as their
one true passion
and their only home
the heart forsaken
found in woman
a place to love again
to dream anew
the angelic to herald
the coming of a new world
a new vision
50.
a heady heavy love
speaks my yearning
calls me
to give my all
and seek the place
of no return
to lay bare my heart
for you
to whom i surrender
to you
for whom i wait