Desert Nude
Wandering in the Wilderness . . .
It was a boyhood fantasy, coming
across a bare-breasted beauty in some
deserted place where she might rely on me
to rescue her, and her all willing
to reward my capable action with
tenderness and something undefined . . .
But now a man, I find myself here
in this deserted place, with this bare-
breasted young woman and I wonder
only where her accomplice hides
to leap out and leave me bleeding,
Samaritan in roadside ditch, naked,
penniless, ignored by the well-meaning
young men afraid of my flaccid manhood
and their own revulsion to weakness.
And yet, no villainy shows in that round
face, that melancholy countenance. She
pleads, with her raw eyes for something
unknown, perhaps unknowable. And her
breasts hang there in pert defiance,
as though her heart upheld them
in taut-nippled perseverance against
whatever mysterious malaise afflicts
her mind. And it is that beauty, her
mind now that attracts me, and my own
curiosity and compassion drive me
to intervention despite great risk.
David M Pitchford
9 May 2008
Filed under: Xenoneoclassicist Poetry, aging, classic paintings, creative souls, ekphrasis, fantasy, francesco hayez, morality tales, nude, nudity, obsessions, poem, poems, poems about paintings, poetry, poetry revolution, sex, wanton, youth | Tagged: breasts, ekphrasis, freeverse, hayez, poems about paintings, poetic ekphrasis, romantic poems, Ruth
this one is a very real supposedly natural progression… from the boobs to the brain… but in reality,, is that possible.. i know in my case whereas a brain might be a little more important at this point,, i will never find out as it is the bodies i am left ever so unattracted to… my own included….
Attraction is a funny thing - like human nature, yes? I’ve actually learned a great deal about attraction from avatars on internet fora. Smiles and kind looks from anyone are more attractive than frowns or somber or skewed-perspective face shots. Also, covered eyes are bad. Bright eyes, or at least interesting eyes are almost as attractive as a pleasant expression. There’s also something in our psyche that wants to reach out to those who reach out for help; however, there seems to be something in our hardware that loathes desperation. How’s that for irony? I guess with age you learn that the body is only fun for an hour or a couple hours - the mind can be fun for years . . . Thanks for dropping a line!
Vulnerability- that look that makes us want to give/protect.
I love the Irony you talk off in your previous comment. We like Strength shown through the vulnerability, modernity shown through traditionality. We seem to like paradoxes, maybe thats the one place we are truly Whole-holding those opposites.
That’s pretty much how I understand Zen understanding to see things. We are all individual, and yet we are all of One being. Of all time and no time, for all time is Now. Thanks for the comment!
Maybe because the paradox is a pleasant surprise…a twist, if you will? I’ve found that sometimes juxtaposing two opposites against each other brings out the beauty in both.
-Nicole
Precisely. It is the balance between such opposites that offers us shelter, joy, wonder . . .
Thanks for dropping in, Nicole!
I don’t think I can add anything new to the comments, so I’ll just say I really enjoyed reading this..