Poetry and Wine

Temptation

Flipping through the latest Hollywood magazine

Gazing at your glossy celluloid dream

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

I suppose I could wish you into my life

Find a red candle and a flame to light

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

A sliver of the moon hanging low in the sky

The acoustic guitar in my room begins to cry

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

Swaying and slow dancing in the hall

Press me up tight and long against the wall

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

Kissing until you bruise my lips

Hands wandering down around my hips

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

The heat of your touch and the palm of my hand

The sweet taste, salty sweat, a delicious man

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

The initial temptation of skin against skin

Invoking waves of delay in me again

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

Perfume of last night lingers low in the air

Your fingers run through my tangled hair

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

We never think twice about etiquette

They don’t have to know what we’ll never forget

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette

The pale light of the dawn warms my skin

Pulling me back from where I’ve been

Half a glass of warm red wine

And a lit cigarette.

**************

Sonnet:

The Blood of the Gods

Just one grape is so precious and so rare

That has only lived in ever one place

And a lovely maiden with long red hair

On the lips of a dying man she traced

A wine reserved for Caesars and for Kings

Poets of Rome praised the Falerian

And about it often the chorus sings

The name was buried by historians

The blood of the gods and the blood of man

Long ago forgotten just like this wine

And a myth I will never understand

Covered long ago by the ash of time

From Mt Vesuvius and Mt Vulture

Aglianico is still the poet’s lure.

******************

How can I become everything to me?

How can I conquer the world

When I haven’t even conquered

My own hometown city yet?

How can I soar to new heights

When I haven’t ever stepped

Out of the wadding pool just yet?

How can I ever love you

When I don’t even know who you are

I haven’t even met you yet?

How can I become everything to me

When I don’t even really know

What that is just yet?

How do I begin to feel

And make it real

After so many years of hiding?

When will I set it right

And give up the fight

And begin living instead of lying?

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