FAREWELL (TO D____)

by: Joseph Kling

HAVE placed you

In the hollow of my hand

Little toy-woman,

And I gaze at you disdainfully

Or throw you lightly aside--

Of half-shut my eyes,

And poetize dreamily

About your dainty beauty--

Or put my mouth

Close to yours

So that I see only

The rose-red of your cheek

And feel the soft warmth

Of your lips--

Or whisper half-audibly

Of the passion that makes

My blood a tide of fire--

But after all,

You are in the hollow of my hand,--

I the master,

And you the marionette--

 

***

 

My soul craves

A nobler happiness

Than passionate kisses

And the feel of soft flesh

In my fingers--

 

***

 

Love is a lie...

Any man-animal

Whose lips

Are at your throat,

Whose hands are eager

For your breasts

Will drivel with lying tongue

About endless love----

 

***

 

Aristocrats or gum-chewers,

They purr, and smirk, and sing song questioningly,

Gaze at each other obliquely,

Body to body pressed----

 

***

 

It is best to live alone,

Breathe alone,

Dream alone,

Alone with one's sacred self,

One's reveries,

And memories,

And heavenly fantasies----

 

Here I sit and think

The world of women

Will fret me no more;

And an hour from now,

Or to-morrow, it may be,

I will be talking to another

 

Pretty one

And every nerve in my body

Will exult as though

Inebriate with wine----

 

Morbleu! What is this

Insanity of man's flesh!

• Purchase books of poetry