decuple

I have one

question to ask you

poets.

what's it really like

to fall in love?

does the scales come off

in Mexican lanterns, with movable

fins that control the flow of

bad air or the radiation of light?

Is it a silk, with scorn, fuzzy with

delight; speckled because of it's 

splitting with sacrum or longing?

does it sit in the room of the sick

like a benevolent friend or point

at passing spirits on the train?

is it white flowers

enveloped in finely dissected bracts?

is it flame short or Coup Deville Long?

does it attract spiders with it's red

thorax and fatty bulges

on each side? 

can it be lowered down the well

with a fear or wind it back up with

the crankshaft?

does it luster with distinction or grow dull

like linoleum? does it sink in the ocean

but grab at the shores in the pleasure stream?

is it modernly seductive or mohair warming?

does it hurt the elbow with its stain

or ache when turned  over with a stick?

what I mean is, does it do like the moon does

when you're drunk and your vomit is furtively

sweet smelling..

just asking for a friend.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

Damn! I wish I'd thought of this! I am a long-time critic of love poems & this really hits my funny bone, as well as being a deeply-satisfying spoof for all that predictable flowery hogwash! I love how your outrageous factor keeps going UP! UP! UP! until the end, which is so flippant & fun! This is incredible imagination! Love the sassy ironic tone! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[h d e rushin]

thank you dearest Margie. I was being serious-not serious, and inquisitive in that nosy matter of fact kind of way....thanks for your thoughts my friend...dana

[Gee]

Hmmmm. Tis ( for me) finding comfort and assurance in a smile across a crowded room, knowing that small talk not needed as silence is okay, that sometimes a cuddle is far more intimate than sex, that their life, thoughts, wishes, needs, are far more important than your own, and lastly, you feel blessed that they have let you share their life.
Merry Christmas Dana :)))
( Have been with my wife for 28 years)

[h d e rushin]

I like the idea of "finding comfort and assurance part" and not the part about sex/ which can seem so obligatory. thank you for your kind words my friend. and happy new year to you...dana

[Robert Trakofler]

If I ever figure out what the hell love is I will be the first to tell you... I promise:) I could throw a lot of Ideals into a pot with some stark unrecognised & unrealistic expectations with a few dashes of preconceived notions and pepper it with some harsh reality... that would make a great stew but in the end sometimes its just better to just let the stew make itself to allow for a more natural mellow flavor

[h d e rushin]

great analogy to stew making. My grandma made everything from scratch; from some visceral-incantation and ancestral knowledge that made for a good and tasty outcome everytime.
"The young man
thought that love was like
the yellow flower leather of the poets book"
Leroi Jones wrote.
I too think of it as something soft and workable.

[h d e rushin]

ps: have a great new year...

[Coyote Poetry]

To fall into love. When someone is so sweet, so tempting. Make you want to live and die in their arms. Love is rare and so sweet. You will give everything you have to keep them close. Hello dear Poet and thank you for sharing your wonderful poetry and the question.
Coyote

[h d e rushin]

thank you dearest for your kind remarks. Love IS hard to achieve as it is hard to describe. Merry Christmas to you and your and happy new year my friend...dana 2019

[Coyote Poetry]

Hello dear friend and you are welcome.

[redzone]

'Decuple', ten times.... I think Dana, love is decupled cubed or a million decuples of what your poem asks and also answers.... there is a madness in love that goes beyond description and I hope that your friend as well as you feel this in your life and that it also lasts a lifetime...

[h d e rushin]

thank you love/ dana

[Beccy]

It's all you say, and more, plus, deep down, a fear of flying. You know, just in case the plane goes down, the chance of surviving such a crash, (unlike falling of a bike, which one could liken to no more than a peck on the cheek,) being minimal.

Nevertheless, we are all without exception, fools for love.

Beccy.

[emmajoy]

I'm wondering why all but one of your reviewers is masculine. Are women wary of stepping into your thoughts.. or is it that they know too well or not well enough what falling in love means. For me, to try to give an answer is.. being lame enough to only feel half a person when apart from that 'other' . I couldn't start to list the reasons cos i don't know them all, but, do know they exit. Why should one feel ashamed to feel so deeply that without weaks the being of a person.. in this case a woman who has pride and more. Will stop there, perhaps return.. because so much of what you've listed in your special way, is more than relevant to me.. more than..

[h d e rushin]

I though about your review for a few days emma. After my grandfather died, grandma only live another few days. She could probably stand the loneliness but not having his voice in the room with her was, perhaps, too much to bare. Love then, is materially misleading if we think it ever has the responsibility of being cautious. It is never cautious when shared openly. Thank you love for your kind remarks...and my Christmas collaboration poem is coming....i'm working on it as I write this....dana

[emmajoy]

MANY THANKS FOR THE LATTER, DEAR YOU, EVER THOUGHTFUL.

Apart from my atrociously spelled and worded message. Yes, yes, YES, do understand grandma's thinking, feelings. Logic escapes when grief takes
over.. .. dear lady.

Must fly now, dear dana. Smiles flying into your space >>>>>>>>> :)

[R.E. Ray]

Dana, you should tell your "friend" the answer to your "one question" is, yes. It's all of those things, and in the best case, reciprocated or shared, and in the moments in between, sometimes there are 30 seconds or so of euphoria (the best tenfold) in the moon's pearl light.

Your poems are always among the most creative and authentic in the Cafe. This is no exception.

[h d e rushin]

thank you dearest R.E. for stopping by with your insight and comment my friend....and happy holiday to you....dana

[Ken Simm.]

Yeah, all of those things and then not. You have pretty much covered the bases of those sides. What is the difference between amor and agape? Between one and many. Between what sucks and what draws.
Your intellect astounds me dear friend. And then so does your writing.

[h d e rushin]

thank you brother from across the world..and I hope that horse your pictured with is one of those that like apples instead of hay; warm pastures instead of hours in the stall. The poet is as free as the horse I suppose...anything is a possibility. Happy holidays....dana

[Corset]

oh...yeah, it pretty much sucks, but not when you're in it ... Happy Thanksgiving Dana!

[h d e rushin]

happy thanksgiving to you my friend...and thanks for those kind remarks....dana