THERE WAS A CHASTE KISS

December 12, 2013 at 3:06 pm (Robert Campin, Scarriet Editors)

The Annunciation - Robert Campin

There was a chaste kiss
That played on our lips
For a moment or two—
To have that kiss
What would a soul that loves those lips not do?

A familiar name
Stayed on our lips
For a moment or two—
To swim in that name
What would a name that loves that name not do?

What was long ago in the heart,
By this life, and this art,
Was a rhyme, a simple one,
That knew whom I had spoken to
When God—who hides from all—was you.

5 Comments

  1. Surazeus Simon Seamount said,

    December 12, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    I can hear a young woman
    in a cathedral with a choir
    singing these words to harps and flutes.

    Reply

    • thomasbrady said,

      December 12, 2013 at 6:07 pm

      I don’t think this bashful little poem could stand up to a cathedral choir with harps and flutes, but thank you, Simon.

      Reply

  2. drew said,

    December 12, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    It is worthy of a dying fall upon upon the lute…

    or perhaps the swoon of a somnolent swan at midnight.

    Anyway – I like the poem.

    Reply

  3. powersjq said,

    December 19, 2013 at 1:16 am

    A well turned poem, with words difficult to use these days (“chaste” and “God”) put to good use. Conventional treatment of a conventional theme. But highly competent. I enjoyed this.

    Reply

  4. noochinator said,

    December 19, 2013 at 2:35 pm

    I’d like to see a poem with the word “shrive” in it. I think Coleridge’s “Mariner” employs it….

    Reply

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