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My barometer
hovers in space
between hot and hotter
I rummage for tepid words
the dictionary people
are not pleased
to find me
looking aimlessly
at pictures of exotic places
with naked snake charmers
daydreaming kisses
like soft sweet leeches
I stare and cross my legs
become a holy man
too hot for anything
except swearing
Tess Kincaid
September 2011
Listen to the inimitable R.A.D. Stainforth's reading:
Oh, and by the way, go visit his excellent blog Black Dogs.
Oh, and by the way, go visit his excellent blog Black Dogs.
To join Magpie Tales creative writing group click here.
image: The Snake Charmer, Henri Rousseau, 1907
I can feel the steam rising. It's NEVER too hot for swearing.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, yes indeedy!
ReplyDeleteAmen, Tess!
ReplyDeleteThe hottest part of this post is R.A.D.'s reading.
ReplyDeleteErr! Okay! I don't know if this is steamy or Menopausal!..Now being read by a bloke just makes it worse!..What do you call a cat with 8 legs?...Yeah yeah! Manypaws!..hehehe..I'm sorry!..I can't help it I'm a cheeky bastard. I do know that I liked it! So Cheers!
ReplyDeleteMy temperature is rising Tess ... another fine poem ... how you make these simple words steam ...
ReplyDeletetoo hot for anything except swearing lol....nice tess....
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely not menopausal, Jeffery...
ReplyDeleteForgive me M'lady!..
ReplyDeleteBy the way! the other answer to that lousy joke was Octopussy!..But I thought I'd been too cheeky as it was!
well done, as always. BTW - loving the chapbook.
ReplyDeleteWillful...thank you so much for your kind support...glad you are enjoying Patina!
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this poem I put on Louboutin tiger print heels, black stockings, and a smart black cocktail dress ...
ReplyDeleteR.A.D., I might like to borrow the Louboutin heels...
ReplyDeleteWonderful, hot, steamy poem and the reading made it even more so! Now that I know the secret (tiger print heels, stockings, and cocktail dress!), it all makes delicious sense!
ReplyDeleteI feel quite at home in your words.
ReplyDeleteSwearing is good to cool the hottest angry passion.
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
Swearing is it's own reward. My wall's framed with rewards. But a naked snake charmer I'll never be.
ReplyDeleteToo bad! :{
Snake hot Tess - very tempted by this week's prompt!
ReplyDeletehot! I love how the words, much like steam on pavement rise, swirling around our minds...
ReplyDeletebravo friend
You lured me in, charmed me until the very end... exotic, vivid.
ReplyDeleteHot is the perfect medium for you!
ReplyDeleteThat was summer here this year, lucky just a memory now. The temperature has dropped. It is much better.
ReplyDeleteTime to get the wooly socks out, winter is on the way. We'll have a fire this week.
I tend to wander around every time I open the dictionary too...Love this hot poem!
ReplyDeletesweet, daring, and romantic words.
ReplyDeletefantastic magpie.
this made me smile...like your take on the snake charmer..
ReplyDeleteI just love the idea of the 'dictionary people' being not pleased.
ReplyDeleteFast moving and daring write! Swearing? ok! Sometimes it works!
ReplyDeleteHank
Yummy-hot treats ~ your poem and the image of R.A.D. Stanforth in tiger print heels and smart black cocktail dress! I imagine a dry martini and cigarette too ........
ReplyDeleteThis piece puts off so much heat
ReplyDeleteit makes us all unbutton our
collars. Of course, now that it
has finally cooled down there
in Dublin, these images are
conjured from weeks hence.
I never met a leech that could
deliver soft sweet embraces;
too busy sucking blood.
I love the line:
/the dictionary people are not
pleased/.
This one really dove-tails
ReplyDeletewith my fourth installment
of LOVE HURTS. I like to think
that most poets tend to piss
off the dictionary prudes.
Sometimes, swearing is the only thing that fits. Where's my fan?
ReplyDeleteSeldom I listen to the audio on these. Shame on me. But I totally agree with you, Tess, the reading does it for me. Wow! And I see R.A.D. rates your work...well, at front of his "list-of-the-century".
ReplyDeleteIt's all GOOD!
I had to do a doubletake. I thought it said sweating.
ReplyDeleteVery, very nicely done, Tess.
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
Steve, listening to R.A.D. Stainforth is definitely worth your while...glad you enjoyed him...
ReplyDeleteHelen, I think R.A.D. likes to use one of those long Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's cigarette holders...
ReplyDeleteTess - Fine writing -- barbara
ReplyDeleteGreat poem ... soft sweet leaches, what a line! Loved the reading.
ReplyDelete@ Helen Shaken, not stirred darling ...
ReplyDeleteTess. What is it about poetry? There is so much of it around, but it takes something very special to grab you from the beginning, from the first line. It is your economy with words : there are none spare, they all have a meaning, they all contribute to the entire thing.
ReplyDelete"My barometer
ReplyDeletehovers in space
between hot and hotter..." Wow, this one leaves the reader suspended in the heat, alright.
steamy
ReplyDeletethink you must be visiting Exile!
I can feel the temperature rising :)
ReplyDeleteNice magpie Tess!
is it my imagination or has the cigarette lighting and blowing out of smoke gotten more dramatic??
ReplyDeleteI like swearing where we might expect sweating.
i am in correspondence w/Finishing line. I guess my order got lost or something. hopefully they will soon send my copy of Patina.
Thanks, Alan, yeah, I like to write a piece, and then go back and weed out all the unnecessary words. The simpler, the better, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteSuki, if you don't get your copy this week, please let me know and I will mail you one.
ReplyDeleteI love the ending! Fabulous write.
ReplyDeleteThere are times for a cold shower...phew, for me...I feel it!!
ReplyDeleteSizzling ...
ReplyDeleteIt's been cool wherever I've been lately, so I'll have to vicariously enjoy your snake charmer and his wiles. Wonderful, Tess. Thoroughly enjoying Patina!
ReplyDeleteTess, you KNOW that I had NO STEAMY SUMMER weather - until today! It's 75 here (*boiling* for SF).....and I am reveling in it!Steamy, sweltering, sizzling....ah, it all sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteBut, I also know that where you are, it can be overwhelming!
I remember Summers with my Ex in NYC.....BRUTAL!
I adore the Rosseau....I was lucky enough to have seen it twice in person - once years ago in D'orsay and just this Spring at my de Young...doesn't it just capture the feeling of lush, exotic and steamy perfectly! Mon Dieu, OUI!
Time for some Iced Tea (perhaps with a splash of Bourbon)! Oh, and Oui, Oui for Louboutin heels!
Love,
♥ Robin ♥
I like the idea of tepid words Tess.
ReplyDeleteToo hot for anything except swearing.
ReplyDelete"You taught me language, and my profit on't is, I know how to curse." :-)
Berowne, I love a little tempest in my teapot...
ReplyDeleteexcellant, love it, esp -
ReplyDeletekisses /like soft sweet leeches :)
Love the images here - feeling the heat waves emanating from your lines, although it's comfortably west coast where I live.
ReplyDeleteAlthough snakes give me the creeps, I love it - especially 'the dictionary people are not pleased'
ReplyDeleteGiggle...those dictionary people take themselves too seriously.
ReplyDeletesweet leaches! LOL
ReplyDeleteOK, kisses that won't let go... that is GOOD! :)
Tepid words. I didn't find them here. I like this piece, a lot!
ReplyDeleteSteamy, indeed!
ReplyDeleteDear Tess: Most excellent is "not yet" and the reader conjures much of the ardent feeling of "naked snake charmers". Yes I do feel this absolutely!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THE VOICE! That's your strength, Tess. Dorothy Parker said she loves this piece. *winks*
ReplyDeleteAs the summer heat rises to the point of boiling, so does our melancholy soul.
ReplyDeleteLove the imagery. vague images of those dictionary people in their staunch sillouettes... peering over the glasses in disgust.
ReplyDeletePoetry on the boil, ne'er mind tepid.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about the heat. Kudos Tess.
ReplyDeleteMy life is currently running three days behind schedule, but I'm pleased I stopped by -- really liked the swelter in this piece Tess... this particular Magpie prompt put me in mind of my favorite album by my fantasy lover, the white goddess of the north -- here's the signature song from that album... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaXpREI_CqU
ReplyDelete..hello Tess! i love the image this week and the words you associate with it.. so tempting.. sadly, need to wait still... i miss participating at magpie. **sigh**
ReplyDelete~kelvin
Thanks, everyone, for you great comments. You make sharing my stuff so worthwhile. You're the best readers in the blogosphere. You really are.
ReplyDeleteI have been gone for so long . . . and I have missed it here.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can feel that heat and steam here. Love the echo too in the reading.
ReplyDelete