The Reading Of Poems Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Jealous of the world
I travel in

(when I read a book)

feeling locked out
she
attempts to break in.

'Read me what you're reading! '
she commands me.

I, of course
obey

pull her onto
my lap
& with a kiss

read her

bits 'n' peices
from THE GREEK ANTHOLOGY.

We are moderns reading
the Ancients.

And soon not even
Eastenders(her favourite soap)
can distract her.

She can't get enough.
She wants more.

I tell her:

'That's it...
that's that! '

'It's just fragments
bits of bits.! '

I have to read them
again & again.

('I only like them in your voice! ')

until they are like
polished pebbles

in the clear stream of
her mind.

She laughs & cries:

'Why, they're just
silly f**kers like us! '

'They f**k.. they bitch...they cuss! '

I tell her:

'Time is just
the blink of an eye

& human nature

doesn't change
all that much! '

She almost swoons
with awe & delight

as I recite
Ancient Egyptian Love Poems.

She graduates from one
knowing nothing
about poetry

to one wanting everything
from a poem.

Poems become her
aphrodisiac.

'Read to me...read to me! '

I moan,
exhausted from
pleasure &

the reading of poems!