Limerence

I am an unripe field with scarlet seeping
through green stalks, a stain of fluttering

blooms studded with the teary aftermath
of warm summer rain. I take your breath

and set your world on fire. Just one glance
is all it takes for you to fall. One close dance

means that you are in my thrall, and I in yours.
Disregarding any obstacles or flaws,

we are melted together, hot with desire –
until time and familiarity douse the fire.

Kim M. Russell, 11th July 2023  

Image by Viktor Smoliak on Unsplash

I’m hosting Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub today with a word prompt, which arose from two things: reading poems with one-word titles and thinking about long-ish words that we don’t see or hear much; I compiled a short list from which to choose one word to use as the title of a poem. The poem must explore that word in one or more ways, which I also stipulated. If you like the prompt, come along and join us!

Limerence is an involuntary state of intense desire.

37 thoughts on “Limerence”

  1. This is absolutely exquisite, Kim! I especially like; “One close dance means that you are in my thrall, and I in yours.” ❤️❤️

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  3. dancing poppies and the allure of sight and sound – love the firemetaphor and the dousing at the end – like petit mort. The fact that you gave the rhyming couplets such a light touch mirrors the imagery so well

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    1. Thanks so much, Laura. The idea came to me when my husband took me to Heydon for lunch and the fields around the car park were full of poppies! Sadly, the photos he took on his phone didn’t do them justice.

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  10. I like poems telling of “hot desire.” I’ve loved the theme and a show for it ever since the CW song, “We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout.”
    Thanks for the prompt choices, I like to see how the prompter handles his/her prompts. You did not dissapoint.
    ..

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  14. Limerence is an awesome poem 🔥 “and set your world on fire. Just one glance
    is all it takes for you to fall. One close dance” 🔥
    ‘tis passionate poetry
    and I love the couplets, Kim 🧡

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