Carnal Knowing

A poem about coming of age

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Take my hand and come with me, the Devil said.

and I did

and the Devil led me

to my unknown secret places and

gone was my innocence.

In its place was a knowingness,

of things I had never talked about

except under the covers with the lights out,

of things I had only thought about once

I came to know pleasure and appetite.

In the thickest part of myself

flowering and deflowering

until the tulips bloomed again.

In my deepest, darkest secret places,

hunger and passion, cravings, aching and desire,

began to come alive.

In those most intimate moments, we touched,

tenderly delighting in each other as the emotion built,

yearnings and longings intensifying as we moved.

It was like a ballet in which two dancers are in

perfect rhythm, perfect movement, perfection.

And then we lay together softly,

to dream of lace and promises.

By Elizabeth Sams

From: Canada