<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Poetry by Lisa M. Bradley

 


Vanitas

by Lisa M. Bradley



Bitter kisses I have saved for you
Gifts gone sour with the mildew of waiting
For moments more perfect
than mortals hope to see
Wet and ripe, now damp and dark
and rotting so bitterly inside of me
But still I fashion fantasies
of blessing you with these bruised secrets
of marking you with my immortal love
I remember your lips open and sweet
and tremble to think they may admit
my timid gifts
And far from fragile, they will not pale
from this humble touch
but bloom
with the greater beauty that comes
of withered passion and subtle decay.

© Bradley, 2006

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After living in Iowa for 10-plus years, Lisa Bradley, though originally from Texas, now admits defeat and calls herself an Iowan. Her work has appeared in Brutarian Quarterly, Mythic Delirium, Escape Pod, The Vile Vineyard, flashquake, and other venues. She loves hummus.