Dverse topic of the night is desire and sexuality and our personal views on it. If you haven’t checked out the exceptional poetry going on over at dverse, hightail it over there by clicking on the link!
here lies fleshly temple
living archive
within which are held
sensory etchings
intertwined orientations
intergenerational associations
Pavlovian conditionings
libidinous hierarchies
trauma-infused twistings
and a room filled
with madness
*
the keeper has keys
to the temple and
its rooms. the keys are
heavy with gold,
infused with magic
at holy times
worshippers may
walk the grounds
and admire the
architecture —
but none may enter
*
the keeper’s deep wisdom
as warrior and protectorate
ensures none will gain access
or reach the inner sanctum
it is written in the book
the last time it was breached
1000 years ago
scorched earth
lay upon the land
through ten rulers
the temple sleeps in peace
Tao Talk 
I especially love this:
“within which are held
sensory etchings”
through this:
“and a room filled
with madness”
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i’m glad you connected with it
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I am so intrigued by the invocation of the temple of flesh and desire — it both adds into its mysticism as well as the protectionary/cautionary restrictions. The keeper/protector makes me uncomfortable with the histories of men keeping control of women’s sexuality — the inner-sanctum being the nature/energy of womanhood banished to the ideals of being worshipped and revered and thereby repressed and oppressed. This actually reminded me of the Plath poem I quoted in the post. I hope I am not straying too far from the thought behind it.
I really liked it — it’s layered and it made me delve into the metaphorical connotations and allegories, making for an invigorating reading. Thank you for participating. :-)
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Anmol, I am very pleased that you took a critical look at the poem and the implications of it. It’s why I write in public. I totally see why a woman locking her sexuality/desires away, unreachable and protected but to be worshipped and revered from afar would make you uncomfortable, for the reasons you stated. What has shifted in this poem is that the woman is placing these restrictions on herself for her own reasons, as they are alluded to at the end. I appreciate you calling attention to the historical male model of repression and oppression and for that I’m thankful. Maybe there is a better way out there to accomplish the same end who knows :)
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I liked the choices of your symbolic language !
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Thank you very much!
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Desire is madness Jade, exquisite madness… :-)
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:) Now there is the madness — and there is madness. Like when the hinge is already a little loose and a strong gust of desire comes along ……
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Ooh such wonderful use of language in this, Jade! ❤️
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Sanaarizvi thank you for your kind words!
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Wonderful mythic quality to this – the whole thing is wrapped in a magical miasma of conflicting desire.
Love this list – how sadly true:
sensory etchings
intertwined orientations
intergenerational associations
Pavlovian conditionings
libidinous hierarchies
trauma-infused twistings
and a room filled
with madness
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thank you for your comments and glad it connected with you Christine
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The locked room to me is a symbol of sexuality that has existed for ever… but somewhere there is always a key :-)
Love the pavlovian line which makes me think of basic lust.
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always the optimist comes along! thank you for that. the world would be a grim place without optimists.
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The sacredness of the body and all that it holds makes it a precious vault. I related to the many memories locked in the vault.
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your response is poetry and beautiful. yes, it is.
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