why should i blame her that she filled my days
with misery, or that she would have late
have taught to ignorant men most violent ways,
or hurled the little streets upon the great,
had they but courage equal to desire?

- 'no second troy' william butler yeats

the stains on the mattress. like dried flower
petals. not recent. old love; there's no other
kind of love in this room now. when i saw that,
that evidence left by two people, of love or
something like it, desire at least, at least
touch, between two people perhaps now old or
dead, i covered the bed again and lay down on it.

- 'the handmaid's tale' margaret atwood

and there
on a goalpost shall they nail-gun my palms
and feet.
he asked us, 'who is your lord? who's
the big fella around here? into whose arms
shall you turn?'
we answered, 'thee. thou. thine.'

- 'the holy land' simon armitage

i'm so ready and willing & able it's untrue, to act
out this love scene & make my dreams come true. &
how many others have touched themselves whilst
looking at pictures of you? how many others could
handle it if all their dreams came true?
...
now here's an exclusive: i've wanted you for years.
i only needed the balls to admit it. when the
unbelievable object meets the unstoppable force
there's nothing you can do about it.

- 'seductive barry' pulp

did he who made the lamb make thee?
tyger tyger burning bright,
in the forests of the night:
what immortal hand or eye,
dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

- 'the tyger' william blake