Love Haiku #21
pour out my love like
pails full of water—set sail
down the overflow
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Written for Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Challenge.
Pour out my love
Tag: love poems
#BlaPoWriMo: I suck your lips
Love Haiku #20
I suck your lips like
dark grapes from the vine. Merlot,
I’m drunk on your love
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Continue reading “#BlaPoWriMo: I suck your lips”#BlaPoWriMo: I wash my hair in his lap
I wash my hair in his lap.
Squeeze out the excess water
and lay me down to dry.
My locs stretch across the carpet
like fingers. They marry and
divide as branches of a family tree,
and our naked bodies are the trunk.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Continue reading “#BlaPoWriMo: I wash my hair in his lap”#BlaPoWriMo: A lullaby
I watch your eyelashes
when you sleep, jealous
of how far they extend,
curling like decorative
wrought iron gates. What
do you dream when you
lay your head on my
breasts rising and
falling with the rhythm
of our synchronized
breathing? Your lashes
flutter with every exhale,
and I imagine it is me
you see in your visions.
I remember you once
threatened to cut them,
and I met you with glue
over my eyes—that
I could see what you see,
dream what you dream. I
caress your short curls
behind your ear. Cast
your burdens onto me, dear
love. The world cares not
about us, our desires, our
hopes, our pain, but together,
ascension is possible. So
dream on, and let me blow
on your lashes and watch
them shiver in the night.
© 2017-2023 Nortina Simmons
Continue reading “#BlaPoWriMo: A lullaby”#BlaPoWriMo: Under the night’s sky
Love Tanka #19
My love's skin is as Black as the night's sky. I count the stars in freckles, the constellations in stripes— his back a map to freedom.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Continue reading “#BlaPoWriMo: Under the night’s sky”Bloganuary Day 17
Year Four Long Distance
A Poem
The happiest day of my life
is often remembered as the saddest—
as I professed my love for you
and watched you walk away,
not because you wanted to
but because you had to.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com
Bloganuary Day 16
Your coat is still in my closet: A poem
Your coat is still in my closet, and I know it's been years since we've called it quits— It shows its age. The rusted zipper stuck in place, the faded blue nylon, the cotton stuffing spilling out of elbow patches— You've moved on, I have too. But nights when it's coldest and he's working late, I put it on and wrap myself in the memory of a passionate love that burned too quickly. I can smell the cigar smoke on your collar, feel the warmth of your skin in the sleeves. I can feel your lips pressed firmly against mine. They taste like ash. And as I lie in bed, kissing and caressing your essence, allowing thoughts of you to creep back into my crevices, I wonder— Do you still keep the sun-bleached sports bra I left under your pillow? Do you sniff it while she sleeps? Do you imagine taking it off, putting my breasts in your mouth? I ask this as I traces my fingers around my areolas, and my nipples harden under the prick of your tongue.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Bloganuary Day 15
Make the First Move
Love Sedoka #3
Ice pelts my face like
tiny daggers, but I bear
wintry mix to ask you out.
Rain or shine, I’m yours
to wine and dine. Come inside,
let me warm you from the cold.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Bloganuary Day 13
Happy Friday the 13th, Bloganuary participants! No, I did not almost burn my apartment down this morning by forgetting a slice of cheese toast under the broiler in the oven. Today was a totally normal Friday… 😀
For today’s prompt, I couldn’t decide which poem I liked more, so I’m giving you a twofer.
What would you do with a billion US dollars?
A Billion Dollars? A Senryu
A billion dollars? Is that before or after taxes? Pay my bills.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
A Billion Dollars? Love Tanka #18
A billion dollars? I'd buy a resort island for me and my love. Sip mango lassi on the beach—no visas required.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Bloganuary Day 7
When It Rains… A Poem
Does the weather change to fit my mood, or my mood the weather? When I cry, it pours, and when I think of the distance between us, the winds gust. I'm drawn to the sea as thunder clouds gather. The sound of ocean waves slamming against the shoreline reminds me of rain, and I wonder— If I dream up a malestrom, how long could I ride the current to get to you, and when you find me prostrate in the sand and flip me over, will the sun finally shine?
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
Nortina's Writing Inspiration Well 