Basket of Figs (Erotic poem for Nickyhere)

This morning, my friend Nickyhere asked us to think sexy, everywhere.

This is my way of saying yes t that, and sharing something erotic.


Basket of Figs

by Ellen Bass


Bring me your pain, love. Spread
it out like fine rugs, silk sashes,
warm eggs, cinnamon
and cloves in burlap sacks. Show me

the detail, the intricate embroidery
on the collar, tiny shell buttons,
the hem stitched the way you were taught,
pricking just a thread, almost invisible.

Unclasp it like jewels, the gold
still hot from your body. Empty
your basket of figs. Spill your wine.

That hard nugget of pain, I would suck it,
cradling it on my tongue like the slick
seed of pomegranate. I would lift it

tenderly, as a great a n i m a l might
carry a small one in the private
cave of the mouth.



from Mules of Love by Ellen Bass, 2002.