Where Beauty Resides

The bells of liberty

by your stockings rung

The deepest restraints

in my hands … undone

A ladder of splendour

slowly climbing

Your sacrament melting

upon my thirsting tongue

quenched in the ocean

of love’s perfection

Down on bended knees

lost in the tender squeeze

of your wholly communion

To ride the high tide

of hard won liberation

Yet … I’m a captive slave

to your will being done

Angels whispering

a fervent prayer

A cry of pleasure

that rents the air

A rosebud opening

to the dawn

of a new morning

The Sun reborn

like a shining phoenix

arising from the depths

The full moon jealous

of my voluptuous Venus

swooning with the taste

of that sweetest caress

A portrait in the painting

upon a canvas of wonder

the outpouring

of creation unmasked

basking in her pleasure

a forever to treasure

The joy outstretching

to the highest throne

of moistened happiness

Fingers and toes

like tendrils

of warm tenderness

forming a celestial

ebb and flow

from above and below

Ecstasy in the throes

of total abandonment

Heads and tails

greedily reaching

beyond the veil

of this existence

for that Holy Grail

the pièce de résistance

of two souls

pulsating in the unison

of love’s pure bliss

My heartfelt letter

of explosive joy sent

The walls of containment

imploded and spent

upon your arriving

with an enduring spasm

of celestial calm

that spiritual balm

chiming with the ringing

of your swelling charm

Fair land of contentment

wherever my beauty lies

forever binding

those loving ties

Whether near or far

as from the start

you are always here

embedded in my heart

Wherever

our destiny hides

always and forever

true beauty abides

Love triumphant

ever the prize

Lovers together

riding side by side

Our universe unfolding

through whispered sighs

Upstanding and victorious

under curious skies

It is ever a gracious

and heavenly pleasure

as the eagle glides

to be the full measure

in your glorious embrace

where true beauty resides

~ by David B. Redpath © 2018-22

Artwork;
‘Lady Godiva’ (refurbished)
~a watercolour by Savador Dali

Photography:
David & Linda Redpath © 2022

129 thoughts on “Where Beauty Resides”

  11. This was beautiful, I’ve rarely come across no-pun-poetry, and this refreshing sense of Cummings/Merwin reminiscing is very much appreciated. Not only that, you give it a unique touch very much your own, worthy of many praise. Thank you for this.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  27. Absolutely spell-binding… ecstatic… tender… passionate… golden… universal… feelings… hard to express
    the extent
    of its amazingness…
    a true gift
    to the WP universe…
    thanks for sharing
    this amazing
    verse
    and
    this shining
    artwork
    ✨🧡

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      1. Well… the force is strong
        in this one ❤️
        Had never seen Dali’s Godiva till now… in short… wow. ☀️
        But the poem is truly
        a work of art, David. 🔥
        Now we can all
        enjoy our day
        satiated.
        💛🔆💫

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you ❤️
      To ache is human.
      Erroneous choices
      I find poetically divinyl.
      You write such a fine line
      of life’s pleasure and pain.
      I love to read you once,
      and then do it again 😎

      Like

      Reply

  37. When I saw the picture at the top of this page, I said to myself that looks like a painting Salvador Dali might have painted of Lady Godiva riding a horse.

    And when I looked at the credits later, it turned out I was right.

    Very impressive poem, David.
    Like a 21st Century version of Solomon’s Song of Songs.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. You have a good eye 👁️ for art,
      Christopher 👌🎨

      I greatly appreciated your comment
      as I am very fond of King Solomon’s
      songs. Their very placement in the
      middle of the Old Testament refutes
      the concept of “Original Sin”, that
      destitute doctrine of some old and
      bitter (celibate) women hating man.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Well actually there is Original Sin.
        What’s wrong is the idea that original sin is sex.
        An idea held by William Jennings Bryan when he was questioned on the stand by Clarence Darrow in the Scopes Monkey trial in Tennessee back in the 1920s.
        A scene that was repeated in the play Inherit The Wind where the Darrow-based character of Henry Drummond does the same to the Bryan-based character of Matthew Harrison Brady.
        Spencer Tracy played Drummond in the movie version of Inherit The Wind.
        That was an impressive scene at the end of the film where Tracy’s Drummond picks up both books- The Bible and Darwin’s The Origin of Species – and holds each book in either hand- balancing both.
        You get the feeling that he’s going to discard one and hold on to the other.
        Instead he takes both books and puts them in his briefcase.
        The first time I saw the film, my mother was still alive.
        When he puts both books in his briefcase, my mother noted that Tracy’s Drummond puts the Bible on top of The Origin of Species, “Thus indicating that the Bible is the most important of the two books.”
        Something I’d probably have never spotted if my mother hadn’t pointed it out.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes, fathers are more about the
        doing, whereas wisdom often
        comes from the mothers … but
        one needs to carefully listen🗣️👂
        When it came to my dad, I may
        as well have inherited the wind,
        yet my mother was the keeper of
        a key to an eternal kingdom 🗝️
        For clarification, I was previously
        referring to the misogynist doctrine
        that equates sex with “Original Sin”.
        It arose about the time the role of
        women in the early church was
        being expunged, and the reputation
        of Mary Magdalene was being
        trashed by hairy old men 🙈 🙉 🙊

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks for taking time to look,
      for beauty is the penultimate
      abstract (love being the ultimate
      … of course ❤️).

      A fleeting glimpse
      into a heavenly realm
      A place where reality
      becomes the dream
      A face that disappears
      before it is seen
      An ideal kept out of sight
      obscured by a lack of vision
      or simply hidden
      and forsaken
      in the dark of night
      but all too real once revealed
      in the bright morning light
      Beauty can even shine from
      the depths of a broken heart 💔
      .

      That John Hammond track is
      from a favourite album of mine,
      ‘An Anthology’ (a compilation of
      recordings that Duane Allman
      played guitar on). I think you’d
      like it, Cara.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    2. Evocative. Sophisticatedly primal. Elegantly poetic. Artistically curated. Humanly experiential by the truest seeker…. Your writing and Dali’s work…
      The perfect pairing… congratulations on a fine timeless piece … absolute pleasure to be privy to your work.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. No compliment greater than to
        be paired with such a prestigious
        painter 🎨 as Dali, Taruna 🌷🙏
        It is all a part of the grand celestial
        plan when that special someone
        says yes after you ask, “Will you
        hold my hand?”. To be bold, and
        even primal, is a key to ever lovin’
        survival in a world gone tribal, and
        in dire need of a love revival ❤️ ♾️
        (any poetic elegance I possess
        I owe to the most gracious love
        of my life, A.K.A. the good wife 😎)

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, true passion can be sadly
      ground down to nothing when
      running a race ( unless it’s the
      race of grace). My best advice
      is to retire early, and retire often,
      to allow space for romance 😎 💞

      Like

      Reply

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