Forbidden
pantoum after Rachel B. Baxter
Two human forms in one existence:
this I long for. The promise of love
rocks me with its gentle insistence;
diamond galaxies bind us. Above
this, I long for the promise. Of love
I know little, but desire runs strong.
Diamond galaxies bind us above
and below. What feels so right? So wrong.
I know little, but desire runs strong.
Against our better judgement, he stays,
and below, what feels so right, so wrong,
hangs in the air like summer’s last days.
Against our better judgement, he stays,
for now. That splendid final movement
hangs in the air like summer’s last days —
somnolent, weary, and sweetly spent.
For now, that splendid final movement
rocks me with its gentle insistence,
somnolent, weary, and sweetly spent —
two human forms in one existence.
This poem is part of the Passing Pantoums project on Chalkboard. I borrowed a pair of lines from this positively divine pantoum, which remains one of my absolute favourites:
