The
anticipation –
almost as satisfying.
Candle light as
source of warmth – guiding.
Spoon on the couch,
caresses –
on that tender part,
in the bend of the arm.
Momentum building,
flowing like
liquid mercury,
body aching for release.
Pain
of penetration,
quelled by
exultation,
quivering acceptance –
gasp of breath.
Love
Oblivion
First time
Last time
The prompt at the dVerse Pub was to use an unexpected metaphor. Apparently continuing to fight this sinus/chest infection/cold/flu (whatever the hell it is) has darkened my mood somewhat. And in case I was overly ambiguous, here is the meaning:
Don’t like the subject, but wanted to get in the warning in the last line.
Awakened Words 
Unexpected metaphor indeed. I once knew a woman who said one of the things she loved was shooting up. Just shooting up. The needle, the experience. It was sexual for her. You have captured that here, marvelously.
oh, your final pic took me from elation to misery…and the first time can def be the last time for many…esp if they dont know what they re doing…not that any one should know what they are doing but…ugh…nice one….
shivers…all the more real for me in having to deal witha few kids really struggling with this of late….thanks for being a part of dverse man…
Yup…feel like I had the rug pulled out from under my feet when I saw the image. Cold, sinus pain, whatever it is, you played this one very smart, dear poet. You fooled me! The second read, needless to say, way WAY darker than the first.
Dang, Mark. You rocked this! Liquid mercury and quivering acceptance were my favorites. But you really ended this well. Nice.
Oh, this is good. So good. “Spoon on the couch.” Damn.
Definitely different at least for me. Different way of looking at something like iv drug use. Loving the idea of it rather than an addiction. Strange and probably likely. Wow.
Whoa – this is really brilliant Mark – well done!
First time / Last time… Wow, that final juxtaposition is intense, given everything that came before. A very out-of-body experience for sure.
I was going in a completely different direction until the end.
Hope you feel better soon.
Second time through and it still gets to me.
Sometimes with these things the first time is your last, you’ve given us a glimpse of a feeling, a pain that to most of us is alien…nice work!
What a finale! Unforgettable.
ugh…first time can be last time indeed…sad..and so well written
Ooh, very dark. And very well written. The ambiguity combined with the abrupt finish just kinda slaps you in the face. Great piece! =3
Love the phrasing
You set us up for the fall so well. As I have a recovering drug addict in the family I went there before scrolling to the pic, so frightening and true.
Contains the unspoken truth – drugs can be the highest we get but the fall when it comes will crush….
Re-reading I feel the nuances and sense that this must be part of the “high”, that fuels the addiction. And sometimes it only takes once to fall into blackness forever. Exceptional piece.
My experience of drugs is limited to a gin and tonic and a foreray into resin and freshly grown grass in my youth. This speaks of somewhere I did not want to go.
Extraordinary and excellent. I had never thought of it as a sexual experience until I read this, but maybe I should not be surprised at that, the release sounds the same.
I was hoping it wasn’t that of which I was thinking. The details are very convincing to me–though I was too nauseated by needles to even try, thank God. I tried to make your poem about sex instead, but first time, last time? Never. I wish drugs couldn’t possible be that good–it makes me angry that they are–or at least cocaine and heroin seem to be. Your poem, however, is quite wonderful and not to blame.
I did think it was lovemaking until I got to the picture. But there are parallels, orgasmic experience I suppose, the first time it hits and ensnares them into the habit ever after.
Heartbreaking and rich… Definitely open to interpretation without the photo (i love that), a great spin on a sad topic.
Have lost a few folks dear to me to this type of oblivion–so this one makes me sad, but you’ve captured that moment well.
Oh! I remember reading this before, not sure why I didn’t leave a comment behind. I remember thinking at first it was about sex then being terribly wrong.
Love this – didn’t see it the first time. The metaphor is so sharp and clever… The intoxication is clear.
Oh I definitely remember this one; it’s been one of my favorites. Excellent choice.
This is so compelling. Of course, the shocker at the end is that you are talking about the needle. I never understood that there was such a feeling as this, until I met a female junkie who waxed ecstatic on the same topic as you write so viscerally about here. Very powerful stuff; not pretty perhaps, though Baudelairean without a doubt (to allude to last week’s prompt). It’s like you are chipping (pun intended) away at our expectation as we near the surprise realization that it’s not sexual erotic but needle erotic that you write about. Powerful stuff.
Mark – this is brilliant. Clever. Powerful. And haunting.