Hi, readers! We have a real treat in store for you today, a poetry spotlight. In these poetry spotlights today and in the future, we will be showcasing poetry by some very talented poets. These poets have graced us with their presence.  

With us today is poet CJ Heck. Here is a little taste of her poetry and her views on gentle sensuality.

 

When It's Over, You Just Know 

You don't always know
how you know, 
it comes slowly, the awareness. 
With the certainty and final resignation 
of a child learning there's no Santa Claus, 
you just know.

The breakfast table, once a venue 
for long dreamy stares 
and coffee-flavored kisses, 
awkwardly becomes a silent stage 
for reading the news, 
eating breakfast, and 
you just know.

The smell of his shirt 
when you'd bury your face there, 
the feel of his hands on your body 
as if they had a life of their own, 
all silently slip to a place 
wherever memories go 
to gather dust, and 
you just know. 

You miss the nights, 
how his body and yours 
breathed and moved as one. 
Maybe it's those nights 
and how they were 
that give the knowing life, but 
you just know. 

Like ocean waves upon the sand, 
love recedes 
with all the other yesterdays 
and you would trade 
all your tomorrows 
to have it back, but 
you just know.

 

 

We Need to Get Away

 

Have I told you lately

how good you smell

when the shower

spits you out?

I can't recall

the last time, but

it wouldn't surprise me,

considering what time

we actually have to spend

alone together these days.

I do know, I remember

how intense it used to be.

We need to get away,

just the two of us,

before we grow any ruts

in this lovely road …

 

Let's go somewhere now,

before talking dirty

really means:

"You doing a light load?

Can you grab my pj's

from the hook

on the bathroom door?"

 

Before wanna catch a quickie?

really means:

"I'm pooped.  Wanna take a nap?"

 

Before Oh God, I'm coming!

actually means,

"Don't nag me, I'm almost ready!

Go ahead, start the car."

 

Let's go somewhere now

while Baby, that was fantastic!

still means more than

a Sunday Scrabble win.

 

It's not too late ...

I remember.

  

 

A Box for Goodwill

 

As a friend, I had come to help

yet one more time

and I watched as she set

the cardboard box on the floor.

It was labeled for Goodwill,

penned in large block letters.

From deep in the closet,

she brought out an old blue suit.

It had faded over the years,

but I saw in her eyes

the memories still had not.

Softly, she smoothed the sleeves

that dangled flat and empty.

Then she stroked the slack trousers

on the smooth wooden hanger.

Gently, she brushed

the dust from the collar and lapel,

and then I heard her sigh.

Her resolve had melted away.

Again we talked and remembered.

We spoke of long ago,

how the sleeves encircled her

in warm secure hugs,

and the trousers had covered

lean muscular legs,

legs slightly bowed,

legs that loved to dance,

and what she missed the most

--the heart that beat below

the lapel of the old blue suit,

the heart that beat with love for her.

For over forty years,

the suit had stood sentinel,

loyally guarding both her

and those memories,

and I watched as she carefully

replaced the suit and closed

the closet door.

Through quiet tears

she asked once more

how all of that could ever fit

in a box for Goodwill.

 

 

A Poet for a Lover

 

Oh Lord, give me a poet for a lover,

whose words stroke me like velvet hands.

Word-tender caresses more reaching

than the caress of a mere mortal man.

 

A poet's light touch is so gentle.

Word-fingers probe deep every time,

arousing me, haunting me, wetting me,

seducing me, body and mind.

 

Oh Lord, give me a poet for a lover!

Lust and fire burn deep in his heart.

A silver-tongued devil whose words make me ache

to be on my knees in the dark.

 

Word-foreplay making me want him,

only mind-loved, I want to be free

to feel just one time, my poet inside, where only mind-lust up to now has loved me. 

Poet Bio  

CJ Heck is a published poet, writer, blogger, and the author of three children's books, a collection of short stories, and her newest, a poetry book for adults. She is also a Vietnam War widow.

CJ has three daughters and eleven grandchildren. She lives and writes in Florida with her partner, Robert Cosmar, who is also an author.

For book excerpts, more information, interviews, or to invite CJ to your school, or organization, please call 352-299-5634 or visit her website, Barking Spiders Poetry.

Links:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cj-heck/17/312/b76

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJHeck60

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cj.heck1

https://www.facebook.com/CJHeckAuthor

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/C.J.-Heck/e/B000APRMC4

Blogs: http://memoirsfromnam.blogspot.com/

http://cjswriterthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://knowingwhispers.blogspot.com/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cjheck1949/videos

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5308345.C_J_Heck

Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/cj_heck

Books:

Barking Spiders (and Other Such Stuff)
Barking Spiders 2 (sequel)
Me Too!  Preschool Poetry 
Bits and Pieces (Short Story Collection)

Anatomy of a Poet

My Etsy Shop for Autographed Books:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CJHeckBooks

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog article here.

My guest today is Friday Abumere. Hello, Friday! Welcome to Writing in the Modern Age! It’s such a pleasure to have you.

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?

Blood Is Thicker Than Water is my latest book and was published in October 2012.

The book is available on Smashwords and other retailers.

Is there anything that prompted your latest book? Something that inspired you?

Yes, because we are living in a world where man is an enemy to man and they do have the milk of human kindness again. Men have seen the sky, moon, stars, sun, mountain and valley. Still they do not fear God Almighty. The book focuses on man's inhumanity to man. It is a book everyone must read.  The book is for wisdom, knowledge and for moral lesson.

Great! So, when did you know you wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?

If I feel the need to write, I write provided the place is cool and calm.

Do you have any favorite author?

My favourite author is God Almighty, because he is the creator of heaven and earth and the giver of all good things. He gave me the wisdom, knowledge, understanding and the inspiration to write all my books.

Do you write in a specific place? Time of day?

Yes.

Are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers? Any advice?

My advice to them is that they should believe in themselves and God Almighty. They should remember they were born original, not a copy, unique and special in their own ways and they should hold to their dreams. Nothing good comes easily; there must be a sacrifice.

Here is the blurb for Blood Is Thicker Than Water.

This is a story of a young undergraduate, who wanted to become a medical doctor. But the death of their father rubs them for many things. Whatever they got during the burial was taken by the family and they forcibly took their father property that was left for them to fall back on. As a result of all this, their mother develops a mental illness and her daughter now plays the role of father and mother. She seeks for assistance from one place to another to take care of her mother and her younger sisters.

One day she ran into an old friend, who raised her in hope of getting her a good job, but her hope of meeting her employer became deflated, when her friend became her employer and took her into a hotel room where she finally gave her job.

Universal Reader Link:  https://books2read.com/u/mdDn2X

 

Author Bio

  

Friday Abumere hails from Edo State, Nigeria. After his primary education, he was admitted into Ujoelen Grammar School, where he respectively obtained his O/L certificate in 1995. After one year, he proceeded to Niger State, where he worked with Iyayi Sea Food Suleja.

He also worked with Julius Berger Construction Company P.L.C in Abuja, as a checker for five years.  He later obtained his Diploma certificate in Computer Engineering in 2004 and he is the author of Who To Blame, Blood Is Thicker Than Water, The Wind of Change, The Barren Destinys and Cry for Justice.  He is happily married and blessed with children.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/friday.abumere

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/FAbumere

LinkedIn:  http://ng.linkedin.com/pub/friday-abumere/43/44b/a0b

Additional Links: 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/334867

Thanks again for visiting us, Friday, on Writing in the Modern Age!

Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age blog article here.