18+ reading: this list is for adult readers only. Every piece on it lives in our 18+ Library and opens after a short age check.
Desire is one of the oldest subjects in poetry, from ancient Sanskrit and Persian verse to the love songs of today. The Sensual and Intimate room of our 18+ Library is where adult writers explore love, longing and closeness with heat and with care, never cheaply. These ten sensual poems are among the most loved there, and they are as much about place and memory as about the body: rosewater made every May in Shiraz, the long rains of April, the first flush in a tea garden, sleeping on a Jaipur rooftop in May, a power cut in Dhanmondi, cardamom after rain, linen sheets, a slow dance, and the wait to finally hold someone. If you are looking for romantic and sensual poems that are beautiful rather than explicit, this is the list. Each pick has its opening lines and a short note, and every title opens the full poem in our 18+ Library after a short age check.
1Rosewater
by Shirin Golzari Navab Sensual Poem
My grandmother made rosewater every May in Shiraz.
Copper pot, a cloth over the lid, the whole house pink with it.
A grandmother's rosewater in Shiraz, and the memories it carries into love.
2Long Rains
by Nyokabi Wairimu Kiarie Sensual Poem
The rains came in April like they always do,
like a relative who says they'll stay a week
April rains flood Mombasa Road, and two people are kept at home together.
3First Flush
by Pahi Saikia Dowerah Sensual Poem
Two leaves and a bud.
That's the rule. My mother taught me before I could read:
Two leaves and a bud: a love poem rooted in the tea gardens.
4Rooftop, Jaipur, May
by Anvita Sahay Kothari Sensual Poem
In May the whole of Jaipur sleeps on the roof.
Forty-four degrees at noon, thirty-six at midnight,
In May the whole of Jaipur sleeps on the roof. A married couple under the stars.
5Loadshedding
by Rumana Kabir Shetu Sensual Poem
The current went at ten, like it always does,
and the whole of Dhanmondi groaned at once —
The power goes at ten in Dhanmondi, and the dark brings two people closer.
6Cardamom, After Rain
by Tavish Varkey Sensual Poem
The rain stopped the way an argument stops,
not finished, only tired.
Two steel tumblers, wet hair and a house smelling of cardamom after a quarrel.
7Linen
by Mireille Daucourt Sensual Poem
You sleep the way the river sleeps in August,
barely moving, sure of where it is going.
A lover asleep like an August river, and seven stripes of morning light.
8Instructions for a Slow Dance
by Valentina Orrego Saldías Sensual Poem
First, the record. Not the one you think.
The one with the scratch in the second song,
First, the record. Not the one you think. A poem in steps.
9Until I Finally Hold You
by John Snow Sensual Poem
I've known you only a little while,
Yet somehow, you feel like something true.
Longing at midnight for someone you have only just met.
10After All, We Kissed
by Marcia Castro Sensual Poem
He was a boy from Wabbi
everyone there felt so rich
Marcia Castro remembers a night, a boy from Wabbi, and a kiss.
Keep reading
Want more? Step into the Sensual & Intimate room of our 18+ Library.
Did we miss your favourite? Tell us in the comments. If you write too, we would love to read your work: submit your writing to The Poetic Land. It is free, and every writer is welcome.
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