‘The Shock of This’ by Clive Donovan

The shock of this
creature woman
lying still – not asleep
her middle portion rises and falls
her soft breath steady

The reclining form
like a great cat
at a zoo
or the couch
of a sculptor’s studio

Gentle flickers
of movement – avidly
I ponder mouth open
what will she do 
next?

My God she is
moving her arm
in a broad arc
in a broad arc she sweeps
like a firm slow scythe

She reaps – what?
Molecules of air
my fascinated eyes follow
to her new point of rest
where she spreads into adjacent space

Manoeuvring like an oyster
on a table breathing with the 
quickened waves of warm delight
her lips open
in the pink blush of twilight.

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Meet the Poet!

Clive Donovan is the author of two poetry collections, The Taste of Glass [Cinnamon Press] and Wound Up With Love [Lapwing] and is published in a wide variety of magazines including Acumen, Agenda, Crannog, Fragmented Voices, Prole, Sentinel and Stand. He lives in Totnes, Devon, UK. He is a Pushcart and Forward Prize nominee for 2022’s best individual poems.