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How Did You Woo Me? Let Me Count the Ways

You didn’t sweep in on a snowy steed
Clad in armor buffed until it glittered—
A shining knight of bright and mighty deed
Clutching ribboned gifts on which you’d frittered
A wad of dosh from coffers spilling splendor
To get your dazzled damsel to surrender. 

You didn’t swing in on a torrid breeze
With leopard-loincloth swagger and a smirk—
A tawny Tarzan with a plan to seize
His Jane from every predatory jerk
Who prowled the concrete jungle for a chance
To whisk an ape-man’s darling off to dance.

You didn’t flounce in with a Darcy flourish
Dripping in a nipple-clinging shirt,
Flushed from swimming with a need to nourish—
An Austenesque Adonis hot to flirt
With she who fires the groin and kindles ire—
That heady hex of angst and wild desire. 

You didn’t breeze in with a crystal slipper—
A dishy prince of wit and pleasing means—
Keen to ogle toes and feeling chipper
Post dodging shrews in podgy-footed scenes
All fretting that their sweaty nether digits
Would fail to fit a sneaker made for midgets.

You didn’t burst in from the gale-spanked heights—
A fevered, black-eyed Heathcliff with a fetish
For ghouls who wuther through the squally nights—
Brash banshees with a smidgen of coquettish
To quell the hellish brooding of a beau
From moors where perished whores and ill winds blow.    

You didn’t float in cloaked in fanged mystique
With eyes aglitter in the gibbous moon—
A pallid, batty sneak of sleek physique
With lust enough to make the bloodless swoon—
A peckish, gothic sucker at the beck
And call of maidens with a juicy neck.

You slid beneath my skin and lit my eyes
With beams of bliss that buoyed the bleakest day.
You hugged my heart. You rocked my lows to highs.
You kissed my soul and stole my breath away.
No dreamy prose or rosy ream of rhyme
Can capture love that transcends tears and time.

first published in Snakeskin

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O, Love Unveiled…

I used to think your pledge a poet’s whim—
A swirl of treacle tropes upon a page
Of Venus-verse—a swooning sweetheart’s hymn—
A bard’s nod to a bygone red-rose age.
I used to think you mystical and mad—
A fevered sea of ecstasy and heat—
A rush of rash insanity—a fad
That cost the ardent heart a vital beat.
I used to think you rare and out of reach—
A gift for goddesses on summer days…

Until you held me close on Sidmouth beach
And kissed me with your ever-after blaze.
Time tells me you are fierce and fair and true—
My lover’s eyes (like mine) still burn with you.

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Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

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22 Responses

  1. Mark Stellinga

    Susan, your 1st piece drops us into several of the greatest romantic adventures of the distant past, and in the typical SJB style. So well done. The 2nd has me a little concerned for Mike today. Easy there, young lady! Someone needs a cold shower 🙂

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Mark, thank you very much indeed. I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day.

      Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Susan, I am enamored with your poems of passion on this Valentine’s Day that seem a continuation from other years including the passionate poetry contest. You seemed to have your heart encompassed by experiential lovemaking and love-sharing. Today seems special to you as you have made it for us with burning words of sensation. Happy Valentine’s Day, Susan, and may Mike benefit from the treasure he has.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Roy, what a beautiful comment. Thank you! Being blatantly honest, Valentine’s Day is merely an excuse to write poetry on one of my favorite subjects. I have a bad allergy to commercialism and in true Scrooge style I ban hothouse roses and over-the-counter romance on the big day in favor of love’s free gifts… and there are plenty of them.

      Reply
  3. Julian D. Woodruff

    The email post he opens … and kapow!!
    SJB’s ringing in V-Day, and how!
    Thanks for untaming Valentine’s Day, Susan.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Julian, I have enjoyed every minute of untaming Valentine’s Day. What a great observation – one that has made me grin. I think Evan picked up on my poetic goal when he chose that marvelous image to showcase my work. Julian and Evan, thank you very much indeed!

      Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    That first poem is an absolute knockout piece — in diction, style, allusion, rhyme, and sophisticated comedy. Lancelot, Tarzan, Darcy, the Prince in Cinderella, Heathcliff, Dracula… every sestet is a little vignette in itself, perfectly crafted! And that section about “sweaty nether digits” and “a sneaker made for midgets” was guffaw-provoking, like a line from the old Benny Hill show. And there are so many great similes and images and unexpected turns that I felt as if I were burying my arms in a treasure chest of gems and doubloons.

    The second poem is just as wonderful in its richness of language. I notice that each of the three quatrains (making up the bulk of the poem before the couplet’s closure) is a single sentence. That takes some serious syntactic control and word choice.

    What a great Valentine’s Day gift to us, Susan.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Joe, what a rewarding comment! I am thrilled the first one had you laughing with my Benny-Hill style stanza. I was in fits of giggles as I wrote that one. I think I must have drawn on the essence of those all those risqué British comedies running through my DNA. I’m especially pleased with your encouraging and appreciative observations on my sonnet. It’s most certainly overshadowed by its brash and flashy companion, but I’m rather fond of this one and I am over the moon it shone for you.

      Reply
  5. Cynthia Erlandson

    I should never be surprised at how exquisite and exuberant your poems are, Susan — but my mouth fell open several times with these, and I laughed out loud quite a bit as well, especially on the first one! I love your salacious and hilarious summaries of all of these stories. There are so many brilliantly funny (and otherwise brilliant) lines and phrases, I don’t know where to start; I can’t even choose a favorite. But I’m sure you know what they are. 🙂 You are truly amazing!

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Cynthia, I am filled with joy to hear you had fun reading my over-the-top offering. I just love “exquisite and exuberant” – they are words that will spur me on with my poetry… not that I need spurring on… I simply can’t help myself. Cynthia, thank you very much indeed!

      Reply
  6. Paul A. Freeman

    Nicely done, Susan. A very witty first poem, and in O, Love Unveiled… you’ve made Sidmouth sound like Paris.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Paul. I’m glad you enjoyed the poems. I was hoping to do for Sidmouth what Shakespeare did for Milford-Haven… although, I will admit to preferring Devon to Paris. I’d rather have a steaming bag of chips on a sea-splashed British beach than a gourmet glob of snails in a bustling Parisian restaurant. Besides, we have a Paris here in Texas.

      Reply
  7. Yael

    Wow, happy Valentine’s Day to you too Susan! These 2 poems rock; as in they could cause rocks to rush and blush.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Yael, I love your comment! I hope you had a beautiful Valentine’s Day!

      Reply
  8. Brian A. Yapko

    These are two jewels for Valentine’s Day — the first a survey of some of the great literary heroes who put the romance in Romance; the second a heartfelt description of the passion that goes into wanting someone so much and then finally winning them.

    “Love Unveiled” is (pardon the pun) revealing to me for an aspect of your style that I’d not noticed until your recent Truth poem. You engage a technique of slowly bringing up the lights even as you zero in little by little on the point or observation you wish the reader to make. It’s highly effective because we get to see through your eyes as you sift and winnow finally with a final big reveal at the end.

    “How Did You Woo Me…” (with a title which nods to Elizabeth Barrett Browning) is a remarkable catalogue which — “given world enough and time” could have been peopled with a few dozen additional characters as your speaker describes a love which “transcends tears and time.” I love how you contrast the object of your poem with the various characters — a series of “you didn’t”s rather than a series of dull, dewy “you are…” Good choice because you keep it real. Most of your heroes (with the slightly surprising additions of Tarzan and Dracula who, I suppose, have their own charm) are Romantic heroes, heavy on the Bronte. I was rather hoping to see Gabriel Oak here but I know you must be saving him for something special.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Brian, what a wonderfully encouraging and thoroughly engaging comment that focuses on all I tried to achieve and more. You have a fine eye for detail which I always benefit from.

      Your valuable words on my writing style in the second poem and my recent “To The Truth” poem, have really pleased me. With these poems I tried to show rather than tell. I wanted the reader to join me on a journey of glimpses to glory… from vagueness to clarity, if you will – a bit like our journey in life. I believe we are all given insight to our purpose and meaning along the way, but it’s only with the benefit of hindsight that it all makes sense. That’s why the journey is often so tough – poetry (reading it and writing it) makes it a lot easier for me.

      I’m glad you spotted my nod to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and appreciate the liberty I took with the message. I wanted to go on and on and with the characters. I have goosebumps at the mention of Gabriel Oak. He is my top choice for a romantic hero – but I wasn’t sure if enough people would know him to appreciate the humor. Luckily, Mr. Darcy was made famous by dear old Colin Firth. I decided to stick with the obvious… but that list could go on and on, and that idea of something special with Gabriel Oak in mind has grabbed me.

      Brian, thank you so very much for your appreciation and your inspiration! Your poems and your comments are a privilege to read!

      Reply
  9. Gigi Ryan

    Dear Susan,
    Your first poem illustrates that true love need not be overly dramatic or out of the ordinary to be deep and enduring. My “knight in shining armor” is also a steady guy, my beloved and best friend who “slid in under my skin” by simply being there in the best and worst of times.
    Gigi

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      Thank you, Gigi. It’s lovely to hear of your knight in shining armor – a rare love like that is priceless and worth celebrating every day.

      Reply
  10. Bill Harder

    How you did wow me with “How Did You Woo Me?” Such a masterful use of alliteration and clever rhyme, moving from the whimsical to the sublime.

    Reply
  11. David Whippman

    Knights, Tarzan, Jane Austen, Dracula…you don’t stint with the list of characters for your poems! And then a heart-warming final stanza. Nice one, Susan. McGough would be proud of this Liverpool girl.

    Reply
    • Susan Jarvis Bryant

      David, thank you very much for your appreciation of my poem and for the mention of dear old Roger. Your comment sent me straight to my bookshelf, and I found I’m without his marvellous collection. I must have lost it in my move to Texas. I now have another on order… and cannot wait to introduce him to my biggest fan.

      Reply

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