You're Only as Old as You Fantasize!

Taxation frustration is behind us; time for some fun! Here's a chaste little "bodice ripper" (as those lusty Harlequins are sometimes called) to get your heart pumping:

2010 Poetry Parade

Aunt Eudora’s Harlequin Romance
by
Marilyn Taylor

She turns the bedlamp on. The book falls open
in her mottled hands, and while she reads
her mouth begins to quiver, forming words
like Breathless. Promises. Elope.
As she turns the leaves, Eudora’s cheek
takes on a bit of bloom. Her frowzy hair
thickens and turns gold, her dim eyes clear,
the wattles vanish from her slender neck.
Her waist, emerging from its ring of flesh,
bends to the side. Breasts that used to hang
like pockets rise and ripen; her long legs
tremble. Her eyes close, she holds her breath—
the steamy pages flutter by, unread,
as lover after lover finds her bed.


First published in Passager (1998).
Used here with the author’s permission.

For full details, go here.