With Intent

Summary

"With Intent" is a narrative poem by Lori Carlson that explores the themes of rekindled love, forbidden passion, and the tension between duty and desire.

Abstract

"With Intent" delves into the complexities of a rekindled romance between two individuals bound by their past and present commitments. The poem recounts their journey from accidental encounters to a deliberate affair, marked by the struggle between societal expectations and their intense, unresolved feelings for each other. Through vivid imagery and emotional depth, Carlson illustrates the characters' internal conflict as they navigate the delicate balance between their roles as partners and lovers to others, and the magnetic pull drawing them back to each other. The narrative unfolds with a sense of inevitability, as the characters succumb to their passion in a clandestine meeting, only to return to their separate lives, highlighting the cyclical nature of their illicit rendezvous.

Opinions

The poem suggests that the rekindling of past romances can be both thrilling and fraught with complications.
It reflects on the idea that societal and personal responsibilities can conflict with deep-seated desires, leading to a sense of shame and secrecy.
The narrative implies that the strength of a forbidden connection can overshadow the commitments individuals have to their current relationships.
The poem conveys a sense of nostalgia for a lost youth and the intensity of first love, which can be reignited later in life.
It portrays the characters' affair as a form of escape from the pressures and monotony of daily life, offering a contrast between the mundane and the passionate.
The author seems to empathize with the characters' choices, presenting their affair as a poignant, albeit impermanent, reprieve from their real-life obligations.

Narrative Poetry — Rekindled Passion

Shame rules them, tight-fisted as madmen, If only they hadn’t met. Again. If their eyes hadn’t scanned the room. In boredom. If they hadn’t spotted one another, smiled, looked away and then looked again. But they had. Memories returned, gushing: First love. Senior High dance. The almost-night of initial intercourse. The stalemate. The held-back desires; too young. Their decision: to start again, anew. A well thought-out plan, articulately managed. But this time slow, in lingered stages. First friendship: close, yet remote, no lips melting into stirred embers, their bodies strained, controlled. But as friends, they could at least be seen. Longingly, they resist. He with wife and child, she with a lover of her own: they pretend, act as though nothing could or would happen. But longing leads to curious glances, two sets of lapis eyes that lock in suspicious reflections. And soon temptation consumes, smolders in flames of blue ice, engulfs their bodies in accidental brushings, good-bye hugs that sojourn seconds too long, and the sudden run-ins at unfamiliar restaurants; both surprisingly alone. Friendship is no longer enough to satiate rapid desire. They take the next step: meet thirty miles from home, in a sleazy motel with torn polyester sheets and porn flicks on the tube. And they kiss, the first tangible kiss, lips interlocked as seconds tick into hours of seductive exploration, tongues feast on neck and chin and lower lip. Hands nervously loosen buttons and clasps. Sweaty palms venture into unknown valleys, flatlands and pearly lakes. Driven, they initiate sacrifices, offer innermost bouquets of hyacinths to the gods. And then they part, back to the real world to lover and wife, to jobs and responsibilities. And always, when threat of daily life consumes them, they flee to one another; ashamed and hidden.

This is another poem that has gone through many revisions since I initially wrote it in 1996 for a course in Narrative Poetry. Except for my professor and classmates at the time, this poem hasn’t been read by anyone else in all these years, until now.

Here is the other Narrative Poem:

NARRATIVE | POETRY | EROTICA

With Intent

Narrative Poetry — Rekindled Passion

Restoration

Narrative Poetry — On Reclaiming One’s Life