Mike Horwood
Language of Desire
There isn’t only one way to say this.
Even the demotic has its dialects
and not everyone admits the compulsion to colloquialism.
An orchid springs from my belly,
its roots are buried deep;
and though the orchid seems more Diana than Priapus
looks might deceive.
For we do not choose our deepest desires,
we find them, rather, planted within us.
And that seed does not fall on stone
but on the fertile soil of flesh and bone.
Yes, there are other ways to say this.
Words have their own nature and origin,
a different taste on different tongues,
and in modest England, thoughts must be clothed in them,
but some people like to dress up more than others.
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