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Repressed Desire

An errant breeze blew hair across my cheek
and suddenly my tears flowed as I recalled
how we once loved. A love which I still seek.
Is it my heart or my vanity that is appalled?

How I've struggled to repress a fervent desire
to call or text him each time my heart cried.
Those embers I dare not rekindle into a fire,
and though I sigh, my passion must be denied.

I can't bear to look upon the moon or the stars
for without him near I find them disenchanting.
I'm a firefly with broken wings, like those in jars
whose light has dimmed, vulnerable and panting.

I fill lonely nights writing poems about a fantasy
of lost love that ends with a line of biting satire
that for me is both, a bitter tragedy and a travesty.
Once more I'm under duress to repress my desire.

My frail emotions refuse to be buried or hidden.
Each time they enter my thoughts, I'm depressed
for they're trapped inside me and return unbidden
as I lie awake with memories of being caressed.

I've been left alone on the shore of Paradise Lost,
wanting to rekindle a fire that's burned to ash.
But I'll not grovel or entreat for love at any cost.
I'll stifle heartache when desire and pride clash.


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September 15, 2022
Pick-A-Title, Vol 32 Contest
Sponsored by Edward Ibeh

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Edward Ibeh Date: 10/17/2022 5:12:00 AM Your poem is exceptional, Jenna:-) Heartiest congratulations on your top win in my contest! Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 10/17/2022 6:22:00 AM I'm honored by your gracious remarks, Edward. Thank you for liking my lines.

Mark Koplin Date: 9/16/2022 3:53:00 PM A beautiful and sad poem. What power your love must have held to still feel so much pain. Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 9/17/2022 4:52:00 AM It meant the world to me, but my heart has healed. Thank you, Mark.

Terrell Martin Date: 9/16/2022 10:16:00 AM Hi Jenna, I've missed you of late...I've been dealing with dead computers and some of life's many interruptions. I want you to know, however, that because of you and the quality of poetry such as this one, I keep coming back for more. This is a shining jewel of the lost love genre. Kudos, hugs, laughs & lots of luck in the contest. Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 9/16/2022 12:41:00 PM Hi Terry. I'm so sorry you've had computer issues, but now you're here. Thank you so much for leaving comments that encourage me to write.

Frederic Parker Date: 9/15/2022 4:33:00 PM to write with emotion is hard to do unless you have experienced the emotions you write with, perhaps a memory fleeting from another time another place, or a deep understanding of the heart's emotions, either way, you have captured the emotions of a lost love...good luck Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 9/16/2022 7:16:00 AM Another time, another place, a heartache that has healed. Thank you for appreciating my heart's emotions, Frederic.

John Gondolf Date: 9/15/2022 2:20:00 PM Oh my, you express these emotions of longing and lost love so well, Jenna, nicely written my friend. Best of luck in the contest. John Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 9/15/2022 3:50:00 PM Hi John. This was an emotional write, but not one that reflects my life. Thanks for reading and leaving your kind thoughts.

Arlo Parker Date: 9/15/2022 1:37:00 PM Unrequited love told in stellar rhymes, Miss Jenna. The ache of emptiness on poetic display. Thanks 4 sharing. :o) Login to Reply Arlo Parker Date: 9/15/2022 7:07:00 PM Yes, Ma'am. Jenna Logan Date: 9/15/2022 2:06:00 PM Thank you for appreciating my poetry, Mr. Arlo. I'll stop calling you 'Mr.' if you stop addressing me as 'Miss.' ;)

David Kavanagh Date: 9/15/2022 12:42:00 PM A sad poem of love lost and self imposed repression, pain’s too raw to start again, the inner war of ambivalence palpable through each stanza, but in the end her/his decision stands, the stifling of heartache resigned to persist, a tragic situation, when pride and desire clash, wonderfully crafted poem Jenna, cheers David Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 9/15/2022 2:05:00 PM Dear David, you read my poem, digested each and every line and then spit it back out to me as if you were my heart and soul. Thank you for your wonderful insight. You're appreciated.

Linda Alice Fowler Date: 9/15/2022 12:25:00 PM Truly repressed desire so well-described in this poem Jenna. I love the personification of the firefly with broken wings! Linda Login to Reply Jenna Logan Date: 9/15/2022 2:03:00 PM Thank you very much, Linda. That thought just popped into my head, but I like it, too.