Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Taste of Truth

By Joseph Hesch

I didn't know I needed you
even when I saw you everywhere.
We'd never met, but I was sure
you existed, I'd see you
in the faces of the grocery checkout girl,
that nurse in the ER,
this television newswoman.
They all look, sound like you, yet nothing
like you. They are your pale echoes.

You'd sensed me, too. That breeze
that woke you was my breath
on your cheek, that chill at your neck
my fingertips. That sound, my whistle,
that hum of words harmonizing
with your heartbeat, my hymn in
your angel soul. That's what drew
you toward our inevitable collision
in the cave of the forgotten.

And now we reach for one another
in the dark, beneath a duvet of stars,
upon a mattress of space and time.
And it's real. It's your face, crowned
in gold, I gaze at. As no one has before,
it's me touching you, my Diogenesean tongue
seeking truth in your darkest places,
and finding it wrapped around yours.
You taste of it as we untie our bindings.

40 comments:

  1. Great imagery and emotion, love the texture of it all. Thanks for sharing =]

    ReplyDelete
  2. whew...really great verse and some wonder touches along the way...before you knew it was my breath on your cheek...but that last stanza is the best joe...lovely...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful, dear Joe....just the best. Imagery, flow, emotion...all of it touches my heart....much love & hugs to you, my lovely poet guy xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. ...like viewing an emotional painting on display. Just standing before a work of art as the drama enfolds.

    Well done!

    El

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow Joe! This is a pure love song, and very lovely in how its done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello,

    I really enjoyed this write and could feel the words!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Absolutely beautiful & clearly heartfelt poem, Joe ~ love it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. C'est magnifique! Absolutely loved your beautiful words , they have such a lovely flow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree with Brian... and this is so sensuous, romantic... a serenade for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Words take on a richer tone, a deeper truth, when written with the heart. This is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I Joe, this is one heck of a love poem. It's epic. It's as always from you, a story from beginning to middle to end. I see a classic Hollywood script in here. It was worth all the hype and waiting for. Brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW.....

    *stunned silence*

    WOW

    *grasping for words*

    "And now we reach for one another
    in the dark, beneath a duvet of stars,
    upon a mattress of space and time. "

    Simply EPIC....

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm with Robert. Loved the "duvet of stars."

    ReplyDelete
  14. the heart of a true romantic, the words of a poet, each stanza better than the one before it, all beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  15. this is great...such sensual attraction without really knowing or meeting..searching in the dark...i like..

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love the imagery of the last verse ~ Beautiful words ~

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just... Wonderful! And I don't do love or that mushy feeling that goes with it... *sigh* But this made me long!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I liked the confident tone of this - strong imagery and swift action. Accessible, and that ain't an insult in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Truly, this is how love happens, and you've captured it all in strokes of layered brilliance. Well done Joe!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Beautiful. I was captured by it. One of the best love poems I've read in a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Amazingly beautiful, Joe! :D such immense want & need for someone you've yet to meet, but in a way know already... stunning write!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow. Love's never an over-worn tale....this piece is a new perspective/rendition. Real-like rapture & enchantment imagery captured.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Lovely! This is what that search for one's soulmate feels like...as if they are already there, but not. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  24. This is a tender and somehow magical write for me---it speaks to me of the inevitability of love--

    @AudreyHowitt

    ReplyDelete
  25. Very romantic Joe. I like that you have a stanza for you, er...the narrator, another for the woman, and at third for the two lovers together. I'm sure every woman would love to receive lines like these. Well done you. And well done too with your barkeep duties!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Loved the last line - what freedom that suggests - to be you, to be me at the most intimate time. That defines marriage to me - freedom=trust, and allows intimacy with or without words. This is as fine a lovesong as I have ever read. Excellent, Joe.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Beautiful...the last stanza excellent!

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is one of your best in my humble opinion Joe, it's a beautiful ode to a marriage that has lasted for a long time and to intimate love - commenting with google coz Blogger won't recognise wordpress today

    ReplyDelete
  29. I actually wonder where you started and ended......Wonder if that's a bad thing or not?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Read it, read it again. Nicely paced and structured. Two coming together, from dream to intimate reality. A really beautiful poem and story.

    ReplyDelete
  31. woah... this is painting a picture with words for sure! Amazing!

    ~L

    ReplyDelete
  32. Enjoyed the read and some wondrous visioning tied within

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow, this is amazing! I really enjoyed reading this. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  34. breathtaking, Joe. (and I really enjoyed your intro to OLN at dVerse-great hosting!)

    ReplyDelete
  35. This is real tight and holds me in its loving, knowing arms. You balance the tender with the gritty awareness of what might be otherwise. I found the sincerity of your description affective and enjoyed your joy at finding love. These lines really caught my eye:

    your angel soul. That's what drew
    you toward our inevitable collision
    in the cave of the forgotten.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hymns for angel souls and duvets of stars -- do words get any better to romp through life with? I think not.

    Just the right touches of whimsy and earth here, wonderful Joe!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Oh this is now nice sensual and romantic .. great imagery .. liked the lines mattress of space and time .. you are awesome Joe.. Hope you are feeling better now .

    ReplyDelete
  38. What a beautiful poem with a lovely lady in it, Joe. You are lucky and so is she.

    ReplyDelete