"Hedone", "The Cruise" and "Little Beast Upside Down" by Joan García Viltró

Hedone

I take pleasure

in telling the truth,

in not telling all the truth,

in not telling lies,

in hiding so

everyone can have

a good look at me.

I take pleasure

in biding my time.

I take pleasure —and you know that— in swimming,

sometimes in drowning too.

I take pleasure, yes,

in feeling pain all over my

body, in crunching it

for the wonder of my full conscience.

Yes, I take pleasure in myself,

my aloneness,

but I take pleasure in being shared

too,

and I take pleasure

in licking the velvety skin of

the sweet fruit,

but in bitter things, salty and acid too.

The Cruise

I walk down the corridors of my Ship as it cruises through the Night

and Witches are sole witness

to my nakedness

from behind the clouds––

sometimes I peep from these portholes, they stare back

and make eye contact:

their emerald-green and chrome-yellow eyes!

I fearlessly cruise this Expanse in the endless Night on my Craft. I walk up and I walk down

and I walk along the paths

of this cruising Ship.

Little Beast Upside Down

she’s wild

untouchable

she’s rabid

she won’t compromise

and she isn’t to be fed

she’s here for the Winter only

upside down

furry and fiery

she’s the One

not the Nereid

—far out of your depth— but the Lamia

she’ll suck your blood

capsize your life

touch her

the World will freeze

Joan García Viltró is a teacher and emergent poet based in Cambrils (south Catalan coast). His poems reflect Mediterranean characters and mythologies, also Nature under human pressure; a few have appeared in online journals (linktr.ee/joangv). He curates a Twitter list (Poetry Matters) and posts and reads poems aloud on Instagram.