Embodiment Pantoum
When you’ve had the same lover long enough,
You want the same lover in a different body
So that renewal isn’t quite betrayal
Nor the second first kiss a Judas kiss.
You want the same lover in a different body,
But every resurrection requires a death,
And what tastes like a kiss to the tongue of Judas
Can wither the tongue in a liar’s mouth.
If every resurrection requires a death,
What killed your love for the body you had?
The tongue and all its tastebuds blossom lies.
When you’ve lost your one lover long enough,
The tongue in your mouth can’t taste the kiss.
There was one incarnation, and you betrayed it.
A second first kiss is death to the first love.
You’ll die wanting the same love in the same body.
from What He Did In Solitary by Amit Majmudar
Please correct the misspelling of the poet's name.
Posted by: A.M. Juster | August 25, 2022 at 03:49 AM
Amit M. is simply a wonderful poet, so often, as here, a revelation.
Posted by: David Schloss | August 27, 2022 at 11:08 AM
Majmudar's book 'Dothead' was astounding to me for breadth and depth of topics as well as for poetic form. If you haven't read it, do.
Posted by: Lise Menn | August 28, 2022 at 02:39 PM