this poem is inspired by this painting by rick mobbs.
hold your breath and kiss me until joy travels through every orifice of your body.
. ……… . …… ………………………………. .
imagine us together forever. tuck yourself under the shade of the chocolate tree in our imagination, carve our initials s and e into the trunk with strawberry juice, and lay with me against the blue soil until dawn.
i stroke you over and over until the whip lashes tattooed into your brown skin shimmer like golden stars. you become so warm that you relearn how to feel and tears of happiness stream down your face as my laugh, slow crescendo of love tickles your cheek. i see the anatomy of a rainbow in your eyes.
just before nightfall, you point into the distance. tremors overcome our bodies as we see us in a future dreamland — young, happy, and free with our daughter by our side. we wake during the night surrounded by the remnants of her singsongy voice; she soothes us back to sleep.
. ……… . …… ………………………………. .
when morning comes and master finds us, we repeat “we dwell in the house of the lord” again and again. we are not afraid because we know that i am the sun and you are the earth. our story is without end.
—Lissa E.
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Embodied Heart Mind 
i love this. so many beautiful images you’ve painted here. ‘strawberry juice’ and ‘the anatomy of rainbows’. wow, Lissa, just wow! 🙂
thank you!
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That last paragraph……..
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I don’t know if you ever read any of Francesca Lia Block’s books, but I think you’d enjoy them, especially Echo. “we know that i am the sun and you are the earth.” That part reminds me of it… It’s probably my favorite book.
This is the most beautiful thing I’ve read in a while.
thanks megan. i’ll def check her out. 🙂
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They are two things I love about your writing. (Well a lot more than two actually, but here is two or I will start rambling) It always pulses with life, the language just vibrates with a wonderful energy which is distinctly yours. And it is always changing, you seem always to be looking for new ways and means which is a sign of a true artist. This piece is simply wonderful, awesome (in the old fashioned sense, fills me with awe) The beauty and reality and aliveness of the characters at the beginning gives the ending such force and precision. Every sentence and phrase is original and dynamic, “the anatomy of a rainbow in your eyes” fantastical. Whoops, I am rambling again, but that is what your writing does for me, inspires and excites, if you are not the best writer in the bloggosphere by a league and a half, well, you are, in my experience anyway.
yay. thanks 🙂 🙂 🙂
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It’s truly beautiful! The painting is beautiful in itself (love that Sun kiss!) but you’ve given it a context and a meaning that make it so much more special.
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I too was blown away by the phrase “anatomy of a rainbow.” This is so evocative — it summons this intense moment — vivid, hallucinatory. It makes itself necessary for the painting and adds a narrative element I would not have seen.
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without the spiraling down yadayada–I say fresh slant/nice writing
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Well, others have said it so well, but I just want to echo — I found this to be vibrant, alive, and risky, or maybe I was just reading a certain edge into it.
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whoa. i wouldn’t mind letting you vet my paintings either. plain beautiful
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wow.. i was so engrossed it never crossed my mind that the characters were not humans… well done!!!!
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I loved this. Your words and the painting are good companions. Well done.
-Nicole
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hello turtle… shade of the chocolate tree.. blue soil till dawn… entwining colored images with celestrial emotions… it’s hard not expand my wings and fly.. i wanna go there too… our story is w/o end.. lovely
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On my God Lissa, you have written a powerful poem!
I know this poem is authentic, has happened to lovers
before in their time. I am reminded on Toni Morrison.
You give character to these two lovers, and their love,
as well as ordeal in excellent prose.
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Really fine piece. Dreamy and hopeful.
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“i stroke you over and over until the whip lashes tattooed into your brown skin shimmer like golden stars.” — wow!
a powerful piece that shows the “freedom” of the heart and soul — the very things that could not be held captive. beautifully captured and felt…..
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This is my first visit to your site. I’m not one for poetry, but I really loved this post. It’s so beautiful and evocative and immediate.
Also I love the name of your blog :).
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lissa, what a terrific love poem. you infuse the poem with authentic energy, and at the same time capture the energy of the painting. What a love you describe, physical and emotional, intimate and universal.
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