B/W shadowed image of couple close on the bed looking out the window

A Love Affair, From A to Z: “P” – Perfect

The following is the next segment of "A Love Affair, From A to Z."
To start at the beginning of the poem, click here.
A LOVE AFFAIR, FROM A TO Z
by
Jade A. Waters

Perfect is the day he celebrates with her
Both of them silent over the abyss looming ahead
Instead tangled up,
Kissing, fucking, smiling,
Laughing, laughing, oh, how they can laugh together.
He toasts her for her win
Spoils her with affectionate kisses and cheers
And after another round that leaves them panting,
His naked skin on hers is the best prize of all,
His fingers laced with hers the one thing she truly wants.
But he offers dinner
Her favorite dinner
And she’s soaring all over again.
He says he does it because she appreciates it, which she does
Following him through the store,
Nearly skipping as he talks about
Sauces, seasonings, and specialty ingredients
And it battles the ache that’s started to weigh down her heart.
When they return, she kisses the back of his neck and says,
“I love when you cook for me.”
He abandons the groceries covering the counters for a moment,
Showering her in love while she continues,
“I want it often. All the time.”
He kisses her cheek and thumbs her chin
To make her heart pick up speed, because it blossoms
At his new, perfect promise:
“Then you shall have it.”

To read "Q" — Quivering, click here.
B/W image of nude woman from side

Aurora

AURORA
by
Jade A. Waters

I wonder how long I'll write about you
It's not that I love you anymore
But you've seeped in somehow
Made yourself part of my being for a lifetime.
We were this thing
This magic
Like the thicket that grew round Aurora's palace
Thorny vines weaving their spell
Around a complicated love
Filled with discovery and lust
But tortured all the same.
I wouldn't do it differently
And yet I feel sometimes
This residual spark inside
Too hot to the touch
Too good
Too dangerous
And filled with the memory
Of how I almost lost myself with you,
Could have forgotten who I really was
Because it was so easy
When I was with you.

Don't worry
I'm not pining.
I'm more into
Knowing I won’t be lost
Inside a love that was so good
But filled with jagged edges, too
I'm sure that if I ever ran into you again
And you laid it on like you do—
That voice of yours
Those eyes that stared right into me
Those hands that touched like
They knew every pore and wanted
To live as part of me forever—
Yes, I know I'd smile and walk away
Because I have to
No matter how long I might pause to consider you, that,
Us
Addiction is addiction
You were my addiction
And as much as I long and burn
For what that felt like
I can't lose myself again.

So I guess that's why,
Sometimes,
I write about you
I write about us
I write about those feelings that
Woke parts of me so long sleeping
High up in that palace.
It's because that
Was a story made for reading
So many times over,
But fairy tales aren't meant
For real life,
They aren't meant to continue.
They're meant to be savored, cherished,
Remembered,
But inevitably
They're meant to be closed, shelved,
And thought of on occasion
Putting a smile on the lips
And a patter in the heart
Before real life continues on
Without them.

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