Intimate Kisses: The Poetry of Sexual Pleasure
Wendy Maltz
Language: English
Pages: 224
ISBN: 157731445X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Intimate Kisses revels in what may be life’s greatest mystery, through some of richest, most celebrated poetry ever written. Included in this anthology are 121 poems by such poets as Marge Piercy, Emily Dickenson, Jelaluddin Rumi, Nikki Giovanni, Anne Sexton, Sharon Olds, Octavio Paz, Molly Peacock, Dorianne Laux, Jane Hirshfield, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Galway Kinnell, and W.S. Merwin, as well as dozens of lesser-known and unpublished poets.
along the Willamette River. And he frequently provided the male perspective and reaction I needed to create an anthology sensitive to the emotional realities of both women and men. PERMISSIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Grateful acknowledgment is made to poets who contributed unpublished and previously published works for this collection. Unless specifically noted otherwise, copyright of the poems is held by the individual poets. Thanks also are due to the following poets, publications, and publishers for
Arberry (Athens, GA: Maypop, 1993). Copyright � 1993 by Coleman Barks. Reprinted by permission of Coleman Barks. JOANNES SECUNDUS: “The Tenth Kiss,” from The Kisses of Joannes Secundus, translated by F.X. Mathews (Kingston, RI: The Winecellar Press, 1984). Copyright � 1984 by F.X. Mathews. Reprinted by permission of F.X. Mathews. ANNE SEXTON: “The Kiss,” from Love Poems. Copyright � 1967, 1968, 1969 by Anne Sexton. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. FLOYD
turning from self to other, we appreciate the special qualities of our partner. Next, we delight in how close we can get as a couple. Later, we take pleasure in remembering good times we shared. The opening section of the anthology, “Anticipation & Desire,” contains poems that describe the pleasures of looking forward to sexual closeness. Here the poems speak of sexual attraction, sexual longing, and the promise of fulfillment. Whether it’s a new relationship or one that’s settled into
feet we can do it on the floor we can do it on the stair we can do it on the couch we can do it in the air we can do it in the grass and in case we get an itch i can scratch it with my left hand cause i’m really quite a witch if we do it once a month we can do it in time if we do it once a week we can do it in rhyme if we do it every day we can do it everyway we can do it like we did it when we did it that day nikki giovanni Spring paints the countryside. Cypress trees grow
I came to your bed desiring this joining. Your look is kind but cautious. Releasing a breath, petals unfolding the fist of a flower, I rest my head on your shoulder as always, and now I am kissing your neck. This time I’ll not stop with the skin of your beard, this time I will moisten everywhere lips and tongue can touch beyond words, always the words did the touching but now I will swallow your words tender words the breath in the ear will speak for us now we are so close there’s