{"id":1975,"date":"2014-03-23T10:23:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-23T17:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alteritas.net\/GXL\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2015-04-18T20:53:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T03:53:57","slug":"succubus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alteritas.net\/GXL\/?p=1975","title":{"rendered":"Succubus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not sloth but thought of you keeps me abed.
\nI summon you up, nuzzling the sheets
\nas if mere want might lie in your stead,
\nmy hands manage to rival our feats.
\nI no longer hold you in my sleep.
\nEven when you feature in a dream
\nI pinch myself awake. No slumber\u2019s deep
\nenough to mask you\u2019re not the mate you seem.
\nWhy should I rise and dress if not in quest
\nof you, who\u2019ve led me to this cul-de-sac?
\n<\/span>More than absence leaves me this depressed.
\n<\/span>Finding you would never bring you back.
\n<\/span>If pain be proof of love, then love it must
\n<\/span>have been. If not, what pain there is in lust.<\/span><\/p>\n

***
\n<\/span>Although the experience which inspired this poem dates from 1975, it did not reach anywhere near its present form until 1983, during the years I think of as my golden age of poetry. I was a simple wine merchant, working and living in Berkeley, far removed from my subsequent academic concerns. Once the day’s work was over, I had time and inspiration to experiment with forms like this sonnet, very different than writing about sonnets.<\/em><\/p>\n

Succubi<\/span><\/a> appear to be coming back strong in popular culture thanks to the contemporary fascination with vampires. I can’t help but observe that Latin roots of the words endorse a conventional, missionary perspective on sexual positions (from\u00a0succub(\u0101re)\u00a0“to lie under” <\u00a0sub-\u00a0“under” +cub\u0101re\u00a0“to lie in bed”), as does the male counterpart, incubus (incub\u0101re, \u00a0“to lie upon”).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not sloth but thought of you keeps me abed. I summon you up, nuzzling the sheets as if mere want might lie in your stead, my hands manage to rival our feats. I no longer hold you in my sleep. Even when you feature in a dream I pinch myself awake. No slumber\u2019s deep enough … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Succubus”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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