Grapes
When I talk to you about making love
I am talking about how two people reach toward
each other — within the limits of what their bodies
will allow — and attempt to withstand the forces
that would pull them apart from one another
satisfied in the immediate — true satisfaction
takes patience; it is the reason going to heaven
makes sense (or seems to), we approach death
physically, though what we seek is spiritual.
But right now, we are only talking about making love,
which is like reading about making wine — it means
that even if we were ‘making wine’, we still would not be
drinking wine. Though if we were, the grapes fermenting
and becoming an intoxicant would be miracle enough.
Joel Martyr studied at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. His work has previously been published in The Explicator and on his website Fork’s Pass Poetry. He currently lives with his wife in Bristol, United Kingdom, where he teaches high school English.