Heart of Smoke
Tonight’s poem is simply entitled Smoke. Tell me if it is as simple as it sounds. Better still, tell me if it is true. Enjoy.
Smoke
The smoke curls between the flames.
Warmth radiates, engulfing my body,
But leaving my mind in a chill.
Love is always a fire, smoldering or ablaze,
Wrapping lovers in a warm embrace
While their needs and desires it fulfills.
Once it is through, the ashes blow away,
And the hearts love has consumed leave
Behind the acrid smoke I smell still.
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awarewriter
/ January 30, 2012I think of lust rather than love here Red.
John
Red
/ January 31, 2012Interesting. I wonder if I can attribute that to the utter failure of the English language.
awarewriter
/ January 31, 2012Warmth in body. Chill in mind? Can’t be love then.
“While their needs and desires it fulfills” While, then it’s through is ephemeral. Fire turned to ashes?? Hearts consumed? Nothing left but memories?
Either lust or lost love Red. Your words.
John
Red
/ January 31, 2012So, your story is love warms the mind and lust the body? Here, I see the heart as part of the body. And there are far more “needs and desires” than just sex. (Knows next post is right on target.)
I see the heart as consumed by the fire. Its ashes are those blown away.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Red.
Rachael Black
/ January 31, 2012Smooth as the silky smoke in the image you’ve added -smile-.
Red
/ January 31, 2012When I saw it, compulsion kicked in…
bear
/ January 31, 2012Great it does smack of lust !
Red
/ January 31, 2012If you are with McD, perhaps I should read it again….Hmm.
prenin
/ January 31, 2012Mmm… The hot fires of passion, turned to dust and ash…
Love and hugs!
Prenin.
Red
/ January 31, 2012So, all the men see it as lust. Hmm…
El Guapo
/ January 31, 2012I wonder if it’s gender that informs the perception, or experiences with love..
Red
/ January 31, 2012If I had to guess, I would say experience. That the experiences tend to fall along gender majority is equally interesting. I suspect the lovers just happen to be less vocal than the lusters. Sex is finite and easily identified. Love is ethereal and rarely identified quantitatively or correctly. When in doubt of love, stick with sex.
christyb
/ January 31, 2012Bring on the poetry! The analogy of smoke to the rise and fall of love felt in a relationship is a unique comparison that holds true indeed.
Red
/ January 31, 2012Glad you give it the vote of approval. Apparently, the women read something entirely different into the poem than the men did.
El Guapo
/ January 31, 2012Showing my guyness here too. Good poem, but I didn’t see it as love either…
Red
/ January 31, 2012*Tromps out to post to read it again…*
awarewriter
/ January 31, 2012Nope Red. My story is that the separation of mind and body is an illusion, a dualistic construct. Love brooks no mind/body separation.
John
Red
/ January 31, 2012True, love does not, which is how I skirt the lust issue. Hence, the burnt heart is a product of love.
Barb
/ January 31, 2012I wish I was a poet. I love the first line which sets the whole scene, and mood. Brilliant.
Red
/ January 31, 2012Some days, I wish I was a poet, too. I may be able to meter the rhyme, but sometimes (read most times), what I mean to convey is obfuscated by the words themselves.
Glad you liked it!
Red.
El Guapo
/ January 31, 2012But that’s the beauty of poetry, isn’t it Red? Everyone reads it through their own filters, and gets their own meaning from it, regardless (despite?) what the author intended…
Red
/ January 31, 2012I think of it as the beauty of looking at a virus under a microscope…or watching a train wreck in slow motion. The odd part…it is not poetry which does that. Some of the conversations we have had here about statistics I share have just floored me…and all fueled future series. I will ever stand in awe of what can be garnered from the written word. It truly is a giant game of telephone.
MattAndJojang
/ January 31, 2012Love is ephemeral like smoke but:
“Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.”
~ Matt
Red
/ January 31, 2012I agree with that statement at a cellular level. I hope you are going to comment on #TalkTuesday. You and Jojang are a great example.
Red.
MattAndJojang
/ January 31, 2012I will, Red… 🙂
By the way, thanks for the compliment. Our life as couple is not perfect & has its challenges. But we’re able to surmount it because after the tempers have flared, we are able to sit down, talk, and find ways to resolve our differences…
~ Matt
Red
/ January 31, 2012No thanks needed. It is just the truth!