One Night In Paris
One Night in Paris
I watched you patiently
Scratch your initials
Along the edges of my heart.
Carving each one from ash
Scarlet flame, pitted by a knife;
You left them there.
You took wave-worn chips of abalone,
And placed them against my skin.
Breathe, you said
As you kissed each breast.
You made my nervous system
Vibrate like a violin.
Leaving me prone to heartbreak,
You left my own love words
Lodged in my aching throat.
Later I rushed quickly away,
Fearful because I wanted to stay.
I've been walking now for months,
Fighting the urge to return.
I wrote your name
On a curl of paper and burned it.
The heart you etched
Has completely shattered.
The letters you carved
Still wake me up at night,
I think I can hear the rasp
Of you whispering my name.
I remember the lovemaking
And I want to call
But I am afraid another girl,
Has already erased any words
I might have left behind.
Still I long desperately to return
To that one wild night in Paris.
I lay a hand on my chest
Trying to smooth away the initials
That are burning through my flesh.
Copyright © Dee Edgett
A Book Of Romance and Longing (fundraiser)
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Submitted on May 02, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 7 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCXXXXBDXEXDXFXGGXHIJXXXXXIXXXFXHAECX JX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,077 |
Words | 208 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 38, 2 |
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"One Night In Paris" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/81038/one-night-in-paris>.
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