Breath

August 19, 2009
By
photo by assbach

photo by assbach

Listening to the roadmap of his pleasure, it is breath that describes the intricate architecture of both need and sensation.

Words, as Derrida says, are slippery things: hard to catch and harder even to hold. Meaning slithers into crevices, hides in folds, is coated or diluted in effluvia.

But breath hides nothing. The slow even passage of air suddenly changes in an instant to jagged gasps. Pleasure turns the landscape of reality mountainous, the hard-won heights and precipitous drops force at his lungs, playing in the desperate constriction of his throat.

Then he’s fighting, forcing his way up the incline in urgent stages. The closer he comes, the thinner the air. He snatches at breaths like a thief or a man drowning, holds them, and then leaves them behind him as he ascends further.

It’s not the words he spits out like sparks of voltage that compel me. As he crests the hill and gratification drags at his sinews, his breath opens out, raw and gashed. The sharpened knives of his lust plunge, in a desperate sequence, into the heart of his labours.

And he comes, drowning.

7 Responses to Breath

  1. Scarlett Greyson on August 19, 2009 at 4:20 pm

    This sent shivers down my spine. Wonderfully evocative, RG.

  2. lara on August 19, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    Too flowery to make me feel anything.

    • Remittance Girl on August 19, 2009 at 8:35 pm

      That’s a fair enough criticism. Lara. My writing is not to everyone’s taste, for sure.

  3. Master on August 19, 2009 at 5:36 pm

    That was a perfect way to start the day.

  4. maydeva on August 19, 2009 at 8:45 pm

    Oh my! You’re left me breathless, seriously.

  5. vanimp on August 20, 2009 at 9:36 am

    Needs, desires, and drowning … I could quite do with some of that. Instead I’ll circle for a while longer. x (I love the image)

  6. Galiena on August 20, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    excellent. you captured it perfectly.

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