.

To an Eager Lover

This isn’t an unreasonable demand:
you have to learn my story with your hands.

As a man, you naturally want to know
a woman in the way you know the world:
from start to finish, everything in a row.
But knowledge isn’t wisdom; in my world,
straight lines won’t take you where you want to go.

Put aside your reason, but not your senses.
Don’t let your mind direct you, just observe.
And let my body teach you, as we dance,
intuition and the logic of curves,
the wisdom of desire without defense.

Know me now, let your unreasoning hands
tell me the story of your heart’s demands.

.

.

Stasis

It’s as if we never loved. How else
To think about it? Though you’ve left a void
In me, oddly I find myself devoid
Of any feeling. My heart neither melts
Nor hardens at the sight of you tonight.
No doubt you feel the same. Your presence here,
Even when you pass me very near,
Is like your absence: neither dark nor bright,
Not sad, not happy, neither hot nor cold—
A passing thought or daydream. We’ve achieved
A stasis that I wouldn’t have believed.
We don’t love. We don’t hate. We’re just annulled.
No sorrow. No joy. No agony. No bliss.
I thought that only death would be like this.

.

.

Adrian Fillion, a retired proofreader, lives in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He won the 2018 Ron Boggs Memorial Poetry Contest, hosted by the Johns Creek Poetry Group in Johns Creek, Georgia. Several of his poems have appeared in small, local publications.

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16 Responses

  1. Satyananda Sarangi

    Two splendid poems. I loved the rhyming of “else” with “melts” the most.

    Thank you for these.

    Reply
  2. Paul Freeman

    ‘To an Eager Lover’ – an intriguing, unusually structured sonnet, though I’m not that fond of eye rhymes, re ‘demands’ and ‘hands’. You did a fine job writing from a female viewpoint. Oh, and if you swap ‘everything’ for ‘all things’, it evens up the meter.

    ‘Stasis’ – a bit depressing, but in so many cases of long-term partnership true. I thought this a wonderful, uniquely profound sonnet.

    Reply
  3. David Whippman

    “Stasis” captures that odd feeling when passion simply goes away and you wonder what all the fuss was about. Well done.

    Reply
  4. Cheryl Corey

    I felt like “Stasis” could’ve been written for me. Congratulations on your contest win, and I hope we see more of your poetry here in the future.

    Reply
    • Adrian

      Thank you. I actually didn’t win, but SCP wanted to publish 2 of my entries.

      Reply
  5. Joseph S. Salemi

    “Stasis” is a particularly poignant sonnet. Just as Shakespeare does in some sonnets, the speaker talks of a love that has declined into something decayed and uninspired.

    Reply
  6. Pippa Kay

    I enjoyed these poems, though Stasis is sad and upsetting. It is how many relationships go especially later in life. I’ve been married for 51 years now and while we don’t share the physical passion we used to we still love and care for each other. Now there is less to look forward to but more to remember.

    Reply
  7. Russel Winick

    I find Stasis a hauntingly beautiful poem. A reminder to the joyfully married of how great their good fortune is. Thank you Adrian!

    Reply

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