F is for "First Poem For You" (Poetry Friday)

It's Friday and that means two things: 1) It's Poetry Friday and 2) It's the day of the letter F.  Normally I would post a poem by a poet that I rather enjoy but, to fit the letter theme, I went with a poem that begins with today's designated letter. 

First Poem For You (1994)

I like to touch your tattoos in complete

darkness, when I can’t see them. I’m sure of

where they are, know by heart the neat

lines of lightning pulsing just above

your nipple, can find, as if by instinct, the blue

swirls of water on your shoulder where a serpent

twists, facing a dragon. When I pull you

to me, taking you until we’re spent

and quiet on the sheets, I love to kiss

the pictures in your skin. They’ll last until

you’re seared to ashes; whatever persists

or turns to pain between us, they will still

be there. Such permanence is terrifying.

So I touch them in the dark; but touch them, trying.

   

This contemporary Shakespearean sonnet by Kim Addonizio is beautifully done.  The sensuality that permeates these lines is evident...and doomed.  It's not happy, by any means.  It's reverential, sultry, and terrifying all in one breath.  Pure brilliance.  Addonizio's poetry is often classified as being gritty with a wicked wit.  Writing on an array of topics, she employs the transient nature of life, love, sensuality, and death.  She's also published three novels.  Currently, Addonizio lives in the Bay Area and puts on workshops in addition to pursuing music.

Happy Friday everyone!