Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, INTERVAL OF FLAME, by SYLVIA GARDINER LUFBURROW


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

INTERVAL OF FLAME, by                    
First Line: I should have met your tentative caress
Last Line: An interval of flame in your embrace.
Subject(s): Kisses


I should have met your tentative caress
With frosty eyes, or cool deceptive lips.
I should have feigned a somewhat startled air
And held you off with warning fingertips.
No doubt the old traditions have their place
Wherein the man pursues, the girl withdraws,
Or simulates a passive attitude --
And yet, my dearest one, in that brief pause
Before your lips met mine, I quite forgot
The careful, stilted role I should have played!
I couldn't see your eyes, but at your touch
Some wild sweet madness stirred my heart and made
Me lift my lips to yours. I took your kiss,
More tremulous and shaken than you knew
And yet not caring if you dimly sensed
With how much eagerness I came to you.
Your hands were gentle, and your tenderness
Was something I had never known before.
I felt as though you took me by the hand
And led me through a strange enchanted door
Swung open by the magic of your kiss,
Beyond which there was neither time nor space
Nor anything I knew -- except for this --
An interval of flame in your embrace.





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