poetry for desire

Thinking still on the subject of desire. 

What We Say We Want

Luci Shaw

What do we say when

that hunger harrows our bodies?

I desire you. But it's not

that, or not only that.

Desire is the word we use as an excuse

for all the pain, a white flag

dropped into the battle that rages

between urgency and fulfillment.

A time of exhaustion comes

when nothing is left to want;

or when what we still want

is too large to name.