Love Organically

This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for September 2023 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.

https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/

The image that this poem was specifically written about can be found here. (September 2023 – Carla Paton's “Yellow Flowers”)

https://i0.wp.com/www.rattle.com/ekphrasis/EC23Sept.jpg?ssl=1

Love Organically

Baby, put down the phone

Turn off the technology

Raise your eyes upward

And reach your hands out to me

Don’t let the text do the talking

Let your lips speak the words

Breathe them onto my neck

Sweet things the darkness overheard

Don’t send me pictures of a flower

Bring me real ones in a vase

I won’t send you back a smiley

Instead, I’ll show you on my face

To hear the naturalness of your voice

Distorted not through a phone

To touch your face and see with eyes

Not behind a camera lens shown

Don’t communicate in gifs and memes

Tell me exactly what you desire

Look deep into my eyes

And I will show you the emoji “fire”

Let me feel the warmth of your flesh

As your body lies on top of mine

I want none of that robotic-ness

Of that electronic device of thine

For that thing with constant dings

Its distraction fills the air

So silence all but our breathing

As I run my fingers through your hair

And I will lay my head upon your chest

After all our love is through

We will whisper to each other

And speak as lovers do

Skin to skin, the human heart

Not cold glass and metal seam

We must be face-to-face to love

The way people were meant to be

Open the entirety of your soul

In all its vulnerability

But set aside those electronics

That have corrupted humanity

So baby, put down the phone

Turn off the technology

And I will do the same

Come, let us love organically

Submitted under MRB