Lovely. Absolutely touching.

I can't believe what an idiot that I am, I had to use a calculator for this. I told you I was dumb as a pet rock. Happy Anniversary~~
(beautiful song)

So lovely, Rita.
Love this: I ask to please not phone in this night
~R~

Lovely and heartbreaking.

Rita,

This is beautiful.

Still seeking, you keep finding, even when you end up having to ask.
26 365s is a long, lovely time. I think you savor each day.
Felicidades, rita ~

Touched
and Rated.

After all that time, sometimes one has to ask, I suppose. Such longing for what was is kind of sad to me. I do so get it.

Lezlie

still love it :)

I'm sure where this is going, so I will sit quietly and enjoy the journey. R

will you post the original again?

I know so many of these lines. Just wonderful.r

wow, beautiful and painful, so real, so felt

Ha! Janie, I was worried you might get upset... it's more like what L ez said, hey it's a long damn time, it goes one way for awhile then another. We change we adapt. This is what I felt one night. And the nakedness was a bit of a metaphor but probably could be taken literally at times...
Catch22 you have it about right, it comes round one way or the other.
Thanks Mary, Scanner glad you figured it out, Kerri, UB another long time married sure you know that line too,
Diary and Barb, thanks so much for reading.
L sometimes you do don't you?
a little reminder..
Jules, I took it down, it was too close to home Saturday night with the photo, I only changed the poem by adding one line? You preferred the original poem or photo or both?
Plus OS was awful that night, and I like to interact after I post so that was out.
Trudge, come sit with me in the corner, we'll field the comments together..

So gorgeously written. Love the photo as well. R

foxy lady
escaping from freedom
$25 to
NPR

not sure, this one seems less raw, but if it's line for line the same...then perhaps it's me that's less raw? ;D
the photo might have made a difference, but probably not.

Hi Jules, I added the to the line break after : not ask:
and so perfunctory>>
I couldn' t get the other picture smaller not matter what I did and it it just seem enormously personal that huge. Glad you noticed the differences..
JPHart: escaping from freedom, will NPR take me, I know it will accept the 25 dollars.
Thanks Rita and OB, Rita the bureau is in my room, I guess it feels like something feminine to me.

Absolutely pitch-perfect . . . the beauty, the mystique, the hope/desire . . . the hope/desire . . . gorgeous . . .

while these are not words to tune a carburetor by, I hope the object catches some of the wonder

mmm... nape of neck.~r

perfunctory will simply not do.
what could be the reason for 'perfunctory',
and that yawn?

we become abstract, rita, you know that.
we are separated from our flesh
by duty and trivial pursuits.
eventually
passion resurfaces out of
the continuous Worry
that is the law of the land.
In passion, true passion,
magnetic action of mouth & hands
and legs and
center,
down there,
as my dad used to call it,
the universe is renewed for a time,
the breath is sweet as it mumbles spontaneous love poetry
suddenly said in that Moment of
peace
that passeth understanding...

the holy act of lovemaking.
Our temporal approximation of our union with God.

"I am seeking one true

word, gesture,

scent, smile, song, memory

that could connect inherently"

The sexual revolution flattened by the
zeitgeist they have come up with
to keep us vigilant & on edge:
if u see something, say something.

fear is what they need for control.
fear is emasculating...

The one thing I love about (good) poetry is its ability to convey so much with so few words. So ... this is a standout. Really well done, Rita.

(Just turned 29 365s in this household. Still feels like the very first time.)

Your lovely poem made me sad. I guess that's it's power, to make me remember all the wonderful times, now only memories.

Thanks Owlie, glad hit that right way for you too.
Damon, ha! switch horses for carberators.. ya never know. Thanks for reading.
James I need to read your comment again. In a quiet zone, I am not getting the last piece. When your relationship is just starting, making love is the ultimate in connection, as you go further, it never loses importance but other things can be just as intimate, taking care of someone when they are ill or down, forgiving, holding someone up. Or noticing them across the table after 26yrs. I like that stuff.
BoRedux: ah the redhead, one lucky lass.
Ralph, after the high from your road trip I am sorry to bring you down. Most of my poems come from a place of sadness, I don't know why. I forgive you if you don't come back often.. I will come to your exciting, lovely travel blog!

Owlie: *it* hit.

This resonates with me as well -- nearly 27 years in. We do forget, and take for granted, but we shouldn't.

"your yawn at my nakedness
so telling"
Sad to read but your words are beautiful, Rita.

I think everyone who has been married awhile can relate in more ways than one. This was outstandingly beautiful.

All day you walked with me, Rita, and now I find you here.

Still ...
what is it that is not ... here ...
still ...

Thinking of you, Rita, of the warm and wise and passionate woman you are ... and now ... as well ... thinking of ... still ...

A beautiful poem Rita and the song is exquisite. Thank you.
rated

Thanks Bell, for understanding.
Tril, sorry. I know. After i write it sometimes it seems a bit comical, how easy we forget ourselves. Thanks.
Buffy, thank you for reading and weighing in, appreciated.
anna1: I struggled with that line.. I so did not want to repeat the first kind of damning line again. Glad it came through exactly how I intended.. to hang in midair.

Thanks Mical, I always value your coming in and saying Cool Beans. The young guy was so good the other night Jim Boggia, he is based in Philly but travels quite a bit. His covers of the Beatles and Whiter Shade of Pale were so enjoyable. Nothing like live acoustic music.

A beautiful, poignant blow to the heart. I know this place well, this, "Do you still see me? Can you still feel me?", place. We are worth more then this lass.
Rated.

Makes me uncomfortably self-consciousness, this. Recognizing the gulf she might see between us, me and her. A sense it's nearly too late. Yet a lifeline within reach. You are profound.

hmmmm woman
motor running
a faint scent
left in the
room
eve
v

I am number 30 on this one.

I have only one comment for this poet. Everything that I want from poetry, everything that I ask of poetry, is right here.

To answer the question to the title:

A resounding Yes,
in all it's positive
to be met with a Yes
from those longing to love
and be loved.

Most women know this at one time or another,
few capture it so well in words, Rita.

A sad read
Beautifully written
~R~

You should not have to remind him after 26 years. Sad and beautiful writing.

I think you and I are thinking similarly this week. Or, as such a good writer, you make me feel it is a story I know very well.

lovely

deign to plead for yet
a remnant, a wish
just to remind you
just this

I really like that.
And -
No, you shouldn't have to. No reminder should be necessary either. But sometimes a nudge? Maybe a gentle touch or a whisper? I had less than half that time so I don't know for sure how it can be. But your poem is wistful yet determined.

Rita! Philly's own Jim Boggia? Yay!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWJqRI3ZTmM

This is powerful, rita.

It's all been said....
Well done!

Wow. I tried to comment yesterday but it didn't stick. Wow again on second and third reading. If such poetry can be wrung than all such sadness and lsos has instrinsic value. At least, I hope so.
Great. Great.

I love how sensual your language is, it's like your soul speaking to this person, if only they could see it. I've felt like this. I've been there. Thank you for putting it so perfectly.

Still ... here, Rita. Still ... here ...
Now your photograph makes me think of autumn, harvest, where we are.
Yesterday your photograph reached out differently and drew me in.
And still ... still ... your words ... stay with me,
I think your opening and closing moments ...
"I am still a woman ..."
and
" ... I am yet still ..."
are perfect
and hold us ... here with you ...
still ...

Somehow you know this place too well Scylla on either end huh? Thank you friend.
Thanks Chickenman glad the men of OS were afraid to come by and weigh in.. profound, thanks for coming by.
perhaps II, perhaps... I am pretty mercurial, I run away for a few days and come back. So far. Thanks II.
SteveDos, nothing more that I can ask or expect from a reader, in fact much more, your remarks are meaningful to me.
Scarlett although I am not glad to have other woman feel this way, I also feel if you are together long enough, there will be a time. BoRedux excluded. Lucky Redhead..
Blufeather: probably not, probably not. A nudge or a poem that hits right on the head. thank you and welcome here.
jramelle, why thank you. Kind and thoughtful comment.
diananni perhaps it's the winter onset. Restless for some feeling. Thank you for coming by d.
mypsyche! hello, haven't seen you around, I miss you. Thank you.
MC: appreciate and sorry if i brought you down..
Margaret, I would like to think I am good at nudging not prodding but you would have to ask him. I realize your circumstances, it must seem difficult to hear someone complain when you would like to experience this once again. I take that to heart. Thank you Margaret perhaps that is a nudge for me..
Oh yes Jim was great, I saw him when he was an absolute baby in philly at WXPN our listener supported station that has supported him here. He was so accomplished the other night, great guitar, patter, voice and selections. Really enjoyed him.

Chicken man I meant to say "not" afraid. I just got in from a long day at work, sorry.
Thanks AHP, I really didn't feel it, but perhaps coming from a woman to you a man it seems so, interesting, and I thank you for that.
Ferns, big praise, thanks so much.
Alysa: Sorry to hear it, but as you read along the thread here, it's not uncommon. I think so many times we are the buddy, the friend, the confidante sometimes a smoke signal must be sent out, we are still a woman.
anna1: you are very astute, I changed the picture a bit, a had made it B&W and went back and put the original color in.
Glad you are here. I have a fire going tonight, my feet ache and I am glad to be relaxing reading OS, with friends here tonight. Gratifying.
Thank you my friend.

Rita: You say "it must seem difficult to hear someone complain when you would like to experience this once again." I don't interpret your poem as complaining at all. It's a snapshot from a marriage. And even if you were complaining, it wouldn't affect me that way. Reading this actually made me reflect on what it would have been like at 26 yrs. And the answer is - I just don't know. And maybe I wouldn't want to. Besides, it's way too abstract now.

Margaret you interpreted that correctly on my end, as this poem was in the spirit of may I talk to you, can I tell you something perhaps you have forgotten.
Thank you for coming back, always interested in your thoughts.