She

“My kiss is a lethal bliss”

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Maneater” by: rob kistner © 9/16/24

 

I am a vampire
I am the danger that you desire

I burn in your blood like unholy fire

You say you don’t want me I say you’re a liar

I’ll take you beyond death and then take you higher

I am a vampire

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

 

Slayer

“I walk not in sunlight, but roam the dead of night”

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “The Slayer Cometh” by: rob kistner © 9/16/24

 

Slowing my heartbeat
steadying my breath
I turn the key

the lock clicks
the door unseats

fate’s dealt this hand

I’m both prisoner
and executioner
in this deadly game

silver blade poised
swinging the lair’s door open
I enter

whispering

tonight you die…
vampire

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

 

Little Death

”Paris exists to remind you dreams are real” — Paul Cézanne

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Paris Beauty” by: rob kistner © 9/12/24

 

Quietly she sits
aglow in Paris moonlight
spilling through
the tattered sky
time to time

to flood sterling
in those moments
this quaint sidewalk cafe

lovely lady
you look so at peace
yet so alive

vibrant

and so very beautiful

the rising moon
paints your face
a fetching pale rose
as the full Luna
works its seductive magic

a singular teary beauty
you’re radiant
under the cherry moon
cocktail in hand

I want so to approach you
tell you how enticing you look
how you stir my desire

but I hesitate

I fear you’d consider
my fervent advance
an indecent proposal

I don’t want the color of night
to turn a lecherous purple
when what I feel
is passion’s purest red

yes — I am excited by you
more and more
on fire

you’ve such a classic look
sensual
yet — vintage sophisticated
one of Ziegfeld’s elegant showgirls

but I’m a poor soul
the postman

a lowly schlep
out here fighting daily
to make a living
on this battlefield earth

most certainly
not in your class
my goddess

but I’m swept away
mesmerized by your beauty

the graceful lines of your face
your lithe feline form


Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “To Her Lips”
by: rob kistner © 9/12/24

your slender fingers
caressing the stem
of your martini glass

like a captivating
catwoman

you are utterly intoxicating

if you ever turn my way
look into my eyes
and smile

well then…
I know who killed me

you

Aphrodite of the corner cafe
Venus of the street-side apéritif

it would be you

…because I’ll likely die

my heart will stop

my hair
turning fifty shades of grey
as my dust blows away

but really
I would not mind
a magical little death

the transcendence of
“la petite mort”
with you m’lady
would be wonderful
quite precious
a precious Paris dream

but alas
too long I’ve lingered
too long I’ve dreamed
this moment has captured me

I am hopelessly lost
to loving you


Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Ecstasy”
by: rob kistner © 9/12/24

*

rob kistner © 2022
edited revision © 2024

2022 Poetry at: dVerse

2024 Poetry at: dVerse

These are the movie titles featured in this poem, in the oder they appear: The Lonely Lady, Under the Cherry Moon, Cocktail, Indecent Proposal, Color of Night, Showgirls, The Postman, Battlefield Earth, Swept Away, Catwoman, I Know Who Killed Me, Fifty Shades of Grey

 


Sea of Love


Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Sea of Love” by: rob kistner © 9/10/24

 
Sing to me my sweet sweet lover
songs as soft as silk and satin
sensual as a bare embrace
warm summer sun upon our face

promise me the world is ours
that this perfect moment’s endless
lift me up on rapture’s cloud
my racing heart is pounding loud

set sail our souls on pleasure’s sea
fill our hearts with passion’s fire
smother me in scorched sweet kisses
oh what a fiery bliss this is

come to me and take me timeless
sweep me off ‘cross ecstasy’s ocean
enfold me in your deepest dreams
to simmer under summer moonbeams

we seek night’s soothing shade
aflame in love’s sensual serenade
under a moonlit sky of stars above
we’ll sail forever on the sea of love

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

 

MaMa Why

Sweet fire calling, you can’t deny meJoni Mitchell


Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Sweet Silver Steel” by: rob kistner © 9/9/24

 
He makes his way carefully
past the shallow-breathed crumple
that lay milky-eyed in a heap
un-moving on the floor
save a twitch of the sodden head

this wreckage is his mother

she remains slack
death-like

nocturne angels of sweet release
had laid down lush upon her
in fevered embrace

lustfully conjured
by last night’s spoon and lance
skewered silver
deep in the soured vein

mama — why do you want to die

only silence

mama
don’t you care
don’t you know I need you

to himself
as tears begin to well
I am haunted…
by how much
our mothers do not know

he angles to the bathroom
to the scum-brown bowl
to wash his face

a face lit sallow by the yellowed bulb
that hangs bare

eyes of knowing
eyes of sadness
stare into the mirror
broken as his heart…
…then they cry

mama why?


Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “MaMa Why?”
by: rob kistner © 9/9/24

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

 

Echoes of Laughter

78D71FB7-D3E9-4AFC-8232-6F93DDFF8726
Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Whitewater Birch” by: rob kistner © 9/4/24

~ Can you ever go home again? This here’s a lil’truth, lil’fiction. ~
 

Last night I dreamed
I was wandering next to whitewater
in a stand of mountain birch

the white tree with paper-like bark

my father’s favorite tree

reminds him of Canada
his beloved country of birth

I vividly remember my dad
and his love of the birch
and his longing for Canada

a fondness he instilled in me
sharing his beautiful north country
via semiannual fishing adventures
to the small island log cabin
he still co-owned with a Canuk buddy

many memories still live and breath
in my heart

visions of younger days

one now calling me forward
down into the birch valley
and across the planes
of a childhood long ago

this morning’s sun
came crisp and bright
enfolding my waking
in warmth
and vivid presence
as the world awoke
fresh and fascinating

I embarked early
after eggs
juice
toast and jelly

the sweet and salty taste
lingering
of a homecoming
too long overdue

my soul is full
my mind is clear
my heart — overflowing
but my sprit is tentative

when dusk settles this evening
and early shadows fall soft
I will round Miller’s Corner
as it comes into view

worn
withered
but warm with recall

78D71FB7-D3E9-4AFC-8232-6F93DDFF8726
Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Echoes of Laughter”
by: rob kistner © 9/4/24

my wooden framed
childhood home

abandoned now to ghosts

specters of a youth
spent surrounded by love
by laughter
by learning
and by loss

one of the ghosts
in that old house
is my mother

she passed within its walls
on a summer day
not unlike today
as I sat sobbing
in my room
down the hall

my father kept me from her room

he feared the sickness that took her
might take me

so I never really
got to say goodbye to her

nor goodbye to the laughter
that died that day

nor goodbye to the smile
on my father’s face
for it was never seen again

it disappeared
as did my father
into deep debilitating depression

shortly after mother passed
I was moved away
to live with my aunt
in Oregon

today I will return
to say a long delayed goodbye
to my mother

and to lay my father to rest
next to her
in the cemetery
behind the old church
where once they wed

quietly
I climbed the 2 steps
and entered the old church
empty at the moment

I sat down in a back pew
bowed my head
as if in prayer
and in a gentle hush
whispered

“I’ve come back — I’m here”

78D71FB7-D3E9-4AFC-8232-6F93DDFF8726
Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Sacred Serenity”
by: rob kistner © 9/4/24

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

 

Nobody’s Fool

78D71FB7-D3E9-4AFC-8232-6F93DDFF8726
Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Nobody’s Fool” by: rob kistner © 9/3/24

~ never laugh at a clown ~
 

Gaze upon me
if you will
my countenance crafted
to fool
and thrill

I’ve spent years in greasepaint
in fear and sorrow
I rued my past
and dreaded my tomorrow”

they call me Laughin’ Lyle
I love to see you smile
be joyful
full of glee…

but never ever laugh at me

it wasn’t intentional
you see
I only wanted her to
hear me
when I told her…

please don’t laugh

but her laughter
her hollow taunting laughter
her mindless laughter
wouldn’t stop

it wouldn’t stop
and I needed her to hear me
to understand how I felt

but the laughing
and laughing
her incessant laughing
I simply couldn’t have the laughing…

so I made it stop

now I hide behind this painted smile
and there are still those laughing
and laughing
and laughing…

until that moment
when they‘re not

I still hate the laughter
but I know well now
how to make it stop

I’ll spend my years in greasepaint
but no more fear
no regret
I’ll shed not another tear

so gaze upon me
if you will
my countenance crafted
to fool
and thrill

but when you’re all alone
and your laughing’s at its end
I will make quite certain…

you’ll not laugh again

*
rob kistner © 2024

Poetry at: dVerse

 

Love’s Kiss


Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Love’s Kiss” by: rob kistner © 9/2/24

 
Consumed in love’s embrace
overcome in passion’s tide
overboard into desire’s flood
away we’re swept
a’spin in fevered bliss
breathing breath for breath

until finally
great release
sweeps over us

then gently we drift
intimately entwined
afloat in sweet afterglow
of love’s lingering kiss

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse