Osculation

just one kiss that lingers
like salt on chapped lips
will be etched forever
a souvenir of gentle fingers
a heart that skips
a holding of breath until lungs are fit to burst
a ghostly tingle
that echoes
in each little kiss
that follows

Kim M. Russell, 11th February 2018

Related image
René Magritte. Les amants,1928 – image found on Pinterest

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: A Prelude to a Kiss

De is our quadrille host this week and she’s greeting us with a kiss!

63 thoughts on “Osculation”

  5. I too like the salt on chapped lips. There is feeling in the pain, the brushing of the tongue across the lips that brings a slight taste of salt. Shows one is alive and hopefully. waiting for more kisses. Although the Magritte is a bit creepy.

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  6. A touch of Poe in this one. The illustration is perfection, illustrating the message. It does not drop to the level of necrophilia, but metaphorically it is indeed chilling.

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    1. I’m enjoying reading the comments on this one, Glenn, and it’s revealing to find out who has seen a dark side and who sees passion, among other things. 😉

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  9. the one to which the rest that follow will be measured. it had to be searing to hold that place of honor in your memory. it can also be a curse for others’ lips that follow… there’s a story here, i can feel it.

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  11. At first I thought this was perhaps the memory of a first kiss, though the wonderful line the chapped lips hints at something else. Then it seems ghostly. . . I felt unsettled reading it. The Magritte is definitely creepy!

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  14. A first kiss that seems conflicted: chapped lips, but gentle fingers. The drama of lungs fit to burst, but then the endearment of “each little kiss.” Maybe most first kisses are ambivalent like that.

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  15. Oh yes Kim, that was one to savor. Really enjoyed it! “a ghostly tingle that echoes” oh yes! Love the Joni album you posted in comment. Probably tied with “Blue” as my favorite. I have everyone of her slbums.

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    1. Thank you, Rob. I also have all Joni’s albums. I love them all and can’t choose a favourite, although Blue and Court and Spark will always be close to my heart.

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  20. That image….oh my! Brings to mind “captured in love”….I’ve been watchng too many Castle reruns and other mystery shows. “like salt on chapped lips” is a visceral line….I can see the cracked lips and feel that burn. This kiss is one not to be forgotten….heart quickening. I just looked up the title….I admit I didn’t really know the meaning of it. “when two curved lines meet” —- ah now I truly see the connection to the image. Perhaps we can think that even when covered, with something between, these lips recognize the power in their meeting. A really interesting take on the poem….made more so by the image you’ve chosen. Did you write first and then find the image? Or find the image and then write?

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  26. I have spent two days thinking about this post, Kim. I think first of your choice in image – the Margritte – highly symbolic of that truth that even in a moment of great intimacy, we hide our true selves, shrouded like death and what we lose in intimacy is like unto death to us and our relationships. Then I go to your poem and see similar paradoxes; the kiss like salt on chapped lips – both stings and preserves, the lungs that give life with breathe are nearly burst, and all of these mysteries wrapped in the absolutes of geometry. This is superb writing.

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