Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Contest

Love to Last a Lifetime
by Desiree Miller

Eighteenth Contest
third Place

To convince the heart to beat,
and eyes not to wander away.
To taste strawberry-vanilla lips, 
and inhale the musky scent of another soul,
all from the flat line of literature.
How I wish I could write a love story
to last the ages and
surpass the test of time.

I could fill the pages with scenes
of young lovers performing
Romeo and Juliet resuscitation 
on a cement stage outside,
then celebrating their resurrection
by dancing, swirling around as though
they were in a ballroom
with the swish of satin and silk skirts
keeping tempo.

And then I would pen perfectly
the image of these young loves
running up a hill together,
a sort of allusion to Jack and Jill.
Jack and Juliet roll in a race
to the end of the hill,
laughter tumbling after.

Yes, I could write such a story
of sweet sentiments
and endearing situations,
but eventually the reader would become bored
with the romance and demand from me 
a steamy scene.
And all I would be willing to provide them
is the image of a woman boiling water
for pasta,
and a man who doesn't like pasta,
but appreciates the effort,
and only asks her for more parmesan 
please.