...........................................................................................................................................
The Poetry Of.
Aire Celeste Norell.......................................
Animal Games
let's play
predator and prey
stalking, striking, sucking out juice
let's play
lion cubs practicing
our pounce-and-swat
tails twitching
as we stare at one another
in suspenseful stillness
let's play
dogs greeting strangers
sniffing who's friendly
and who's been where
let's play
snakes entwined
rolling heedless down hills
in an endless spiral
let's play parasite and host
thirsting, quenching, burrowing in for blood
let's play
barnacle and wave
the impenetrable one
opening at the slap of
overwhelming wetness
(This poem was first published in the San Gabriel Poetry Quarterly.)
Sense Appeal
First your wit
Humanizing your icy sereneness
--I can drop my guard now
Next your scent
A spice lure of dangling hair
Caressing my back as you lean over me
--I want to breathe nothing else from this moment on
Then a tortuous climb
Up this bond that we're building
Cultivating the roots of a life together
Interrupted by moments of heart-squeezing panic
As I look down from the heights and face the choice
--Do I trust you? Or am I completely crazy?
You know that my fingers want you
You know that my eyes want you
I ask for/ I love you/'s ad nauseum
If you could taste my thoughts you'd know
--I sensibly choose to be with you for life
Peaceful
We hold each other
(not as two lost children)
our arms circling in joy
smiles becoming kisses
and kisses curling into grins
without words to contain
it floats up between us
without melancholy the moon
shines pure and light
I see your eyes doing things
I thought were made up
your hands trace circles on my skin
and every nerve, every hair awakens
joy flows in me
I am completely open
the fear made peaceful
by the openness in your eyes
