A Hymn for Love Drunk on Sin
Velvet Damnation
Love prowls alleys of spirit,
perfumed venom sweetens wounds.
Lips trade vows like contraband,
kisses scorch faith to ash.
*
Desire reigns tyrant-angel,
halo smeared by pleasure.
Prayer dissolves on tongues,
sin sings lullabies.
*
Beloved arrives crowned by ruin,
smile bright as sacrilege.
Promises drip honeyed rust,
time rots roses of devotion.
*
Jealousy sharpens silver moons,
hope staggers drunk on perfume.
Spleen laughs beneath silk nights,
virtue sleeps with open eyes.
*
Love blesses knives of longing,
pain tastes holy-sweet.
Bliss burns slow, exquisite,
soul kneels gladly, damned.
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
I am an Appalachian poet and cookbook author. I write about rural life, family, and the places I grew up around. My poetry and essays have appeared in Beautiful and Brutal Things, My latest book. Check it out on Amazon
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I wanted to title this something different, but worried that my chosen title might cause problems entering the United States in the future so this is the new title. It's the greatest title. No one has ever written a title better than this. (All titles unrelated to content).
Let me be honest. I am finding this difficult. Now, I like a challenge, a stretch, a bit of an obstacle course. “Write about the decline of the British Empire in the form of a narrative poem in which your protagonist is an artichoke” I read, and flex my fingers. “Write a haiku to evoke the sensation of sibilance using only the first half of the alphabet.” “Well”, I think to myself, “this should be fun.” But “write about a system that isn’t working”? A system that isn’t working? Now? In 2026? ONE system? My favourite system that isn’t working? The sexiest system that isn’t working? The one giving me the most angst day to day? The one giving me the most existential dread? I am, as I say, finding this difficult. I will own that I have contemplated writing a thousand words on why the steady “all on” setting on my fairy lights is the EIGHTH of seven options which must be sequentially activated to get there, because that is a system that some fool came up with and it definitely doesn’t work, and now who is paying the price, eh? But how can I write about my fairy lights when…. When…. When….
By Hannah Moore6 days ago in Humans
Comments (2)
Stunning work Tim!
Ooh, this is delicious, my favorite flavor of wickedness.