Fall and Rise

Turn away
   when I stumble
   down purple lanes
   or succumb
   to the siren's call.

Close your eyes
   when the quick-sands
   pull me down
Close your ears
  when I totter and fall.

Yet whatever I do
   or wherever I roam
   still, I know you'll be there
   when my shame
   brings me home.

© Sheila Rogers
All rights reserved 

Now-a-days

Temptation loses its allure,
yields to instant gratification,
the blink between want and have.

Liberal mores assuage
the tide of guilt and remorse
that scuppered yesterday’s sinner.

‘Trespass’ descended
from common parlance;
archaic.

We take what we fancy,
pick’n’mix bags at the ready,
appetites unbridled,
our collective conscience
oblivious, untainted.

© Helen McIntosh

 All rights reserved

Temptation

Her birthday. No different from any other day. Forego the cheesecake. That soft, deep, snowy, creamy sweetness and crunchy, grainy, caramel biscuit underneath; rolling around the flesh inside of her mouth, oozing between her teeth. Her stomach, heart and mouth reached for it. The reward of it! 

But. The fleshy bounce of her hips swelling, ballooning with each mouthful. Bones felt close to the skin mean LOVE.

© Valerie Taylor

All rights reserved 

Regret

I stood before Him
on the Day of Judgement.
“You tried and failed,” He said.
“It wasn’t like that,” I said.
“You stole that ginger biscuit
at 7am on 6th September 1963”.
“And you didn’t put yourself last
on at least 10,000 occasions.”
“You decided to look after yourself”.
“You abandoned belief”
I said, “Yes, and
I have no regrets.”

© Valerie Taylor

All rights reserved 

Paradise

She first knew about ‘paradise’ when she was an infant. A perfect place. A beautiful lawn maybe. But now? The split second when she felt seen by that man? She was so used to seeing her own face in the mirror. It always caused a plummeting in her mood.

© Valerie Taylor

All rights reserved