Friday, September 26, 2025
By Donovan Baldwin
Write to me of loveBoth sacred and profane.
Draw for me secrets
Within your pounding heart.
Song of the ends of
Exhilaration and ecstasy
Of your mind and body.
Step boldly, shyly forward
Eternally exposed by
Trailing transparent words.
How to describe you
Two simple words say so much...
Passionate woman
Write me honest words
Toss veils and cloaks far aside...
Show me who you are
Exposing at last
Your naked soul
Spilling out her words
Poetry in blood red ink...
Ichor of my muse
------
More poetry by Donovan Baldwin
Like this poem? You might also like Safe Within Eden by Donovan Baldwin.
Labels: donovan baldwin, love poem, poem, poetry
Thursday, September 04, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
Or so I claim,
Til she,
The agent provocateur...
Sent me coded messages,
Hinting at things real,
Which I before
Had only dared to dream,
In secret and in silence,
Certain I was alone,
In my disaffection.
Upon the breastworks of
The defenses she erected,
I responded to her blandishments,
"Speak not to me in code,
Agent Provocateur.
If you would incite me and arouse me
To follow you upon this path,
Of danger, excitement,
And adventure,
Say all plain and true,
In words I understand."
Thrusting herself bravely forward,
Her message she presented,
More plainly,
Clad only in its naked truth,
And I,
Unwillingly,
Of course...
Weakened, and entered in her cause,
Following her along hidden paths,
Which took me to secret places,
Full of danger...
And the ecstasy of daring conflict.
She led me up to tops of mountains,
Where light bloomed in ways,
Which long I had not seen,
Also into deep, dark caverns,
Full of mystery,
For intimate meetings laden with secrecy,
And promises.
She brewed for me a potion,
Guaranteed to win the soul,
Of any to be led to her belief...
A potion which she had ME drink,
To prove its true effectiveness,
Which left me, stiffened with resolve
To join her in her quest,
Until its very end...
A final battle full of fire,
Explosion, and, at last
Luxurious rest due the victorious.
Many times strove she and I together,
Until, one day, she and I stepped forth,
Before the multitude,
Where I pronounced my allegiance
To my
Agent provocateur,
At the appointed time, turning
To reveal her to all assembled,
Only to find,
Her gone.
I was left alone by her betrayal,
To face two fates:
The wrath of those maimed by my deceit,
But even worse,
A lifetime without
My...
Agent provocateur
------
Like this poem by Donovan Baldwin? Check out his poem Song For Sappho. Warning, it's NSFW.
Labels: agent provocateur, fantasy, love poem, poem, poem of betrayal, poetry
Wednesday, September 03, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
A treasure at your side.
A sleeping beauty you must
Touch once more, kiss again,
Hear her sighs and moans...
Oh to taste her...
Let her sleep?
Surely nothing wrong with a touch.
Your hand traces the unseen face,
Following curve of cheek,
Whispering across soft warm lips,
Lips that not too long ago,
Brought you to ecstasy.
Oh, the wonderful memory of
Her hands and lips on your body,
Kissing your breasts and nipples,
Fingers entering between your legs,
Into your hot wet hole as
Her naked breasts crushed against yours.
Control?
That is gone, you have to have her now.
Your body follows your hand as it
Slides to her breast... her breathing changes,
She is awake and aware... you stop breathing,
Her arm goes around you, her breasts press yours,
As your fingers search out the entrance to her sex,
She does the same for you.
She bestows kisses, face and lips, then
Trailing downward, her tongue and lips
Teasing, tantalizing your breasts and nipples.
Her fingers beginning to raise your clitoris,
As you do the same for her...
Simultaneously, as if a common thought,
Each raises silver fingers to lips,
To taste the indicator of ecstasy.
Beginning with lips again, flavored this time,
You and she kiss your way down each other's body,
Hands caressing everywhere, as, inverted,
Each face to the other's sex, you and she
Begin to lick and kiss and suck
The most private spot, drinking from
Each flowing well of love and desire,
Nakedness to nakedness,
Hands grasping ass to hold on
As hips begin to buck,
Mounting sighs become
Moans and gasps,
Legs apart as each reaches the culmination,
And making love with mouth and face,
Bring one another to the highest point of ecstasy,
Tasting the flowing love juices,
Changing positions to hold each other,
To kiss with wet faces and lips,
And to taste the proof of pleasure,
On each other's face...
Nakedly embraced slowly
Falling back asleep,
In peace and love,
Together.
------
Labels: poem, poetry, Sappho. lesbian love
Tuesday, September 02, 2025
"Naked Outside Of Eden, by Donovan Baldwin, is a short, evocative piece that focuses on a timeless, almost mythical female figure.
Analysis
The poem creates a powerful image of a woman who is both real and a figment of the speaker's imagination. She exists as a "secret thing, / Of fantasy and dream," suggesting she is an idealized, almost unattainable figure. This is reinforced by her presence in the "back corners of my mind."
The language used is rich with sensory detail. Words like "swirling dancing woman," "heat," "music," "fire," and "wine" paint a vivid picture of a wild, passionate, and celebratory scene. The speaker is captivated by her, describing her as a "Timeless dancer" with a face "Smiling across the flames." This imagery evokes a primal, ancient setting, perhaps a bonfire or a ritualistic dance.
The final lines, "As she dances ancient rituals / The artlessly seductive way / Women have known since / First a man and woman / Desired each other / Naked outside of Eden," connect this personal vision to a universal, primal human experience. The phrase "Naked outside of Eden" is particularly poignant and serves as the title. It suggests a love or desire that is pure, uninhibited, and exists in a world beyond the constraints and innocence of Eden—a more complicated, real, and passionate world. It implies a return to a more natural, honest state of being, free from shame or artifice.
Overall Impression
The poem is effective in its brevity and its ability to create a strong sense of mood and mystery. The speaker's deep fascination is palpable, and the final stanza elevates the personal admiration to a mythic level, linking it to the very origins of desire. The rhythm is free-flowing, mirroring the "swirling" and "dancing" of the subject. It is a well-crafted piece that leaves the reader with a lasting impression of raw, elemental desire.
------
More poetry by Donovan Baldwin
Labels: donovan baldwin, poem, poetry, review
Thursday, June 05, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
 |
Sunrise over Benbrook Lake, Texas |
It's become a part of my life.
Not the trees and the lake.
I just passed them today,
And I have seen others like them.
Today was different,
Walking by the lake.
As I looked at the morning mist,
Hanging over the lake,
Hiding the trees on the other side,
I wished that she was there.
Not too long ago that
Would not have happened.
Now, everything I see or do,
I want to share with her.
The big squirrel,
The leaf covered trail,
The sunlight on the water,
The fog that replaced it.
All is not complete until
She can see it,
Hear it,
Taste it,
Feel it,
Sense it,
With me.
That went through my mind,
Because,
Today was different,
Walking by the lake.
------
CoQ10 FOR HEART HEALTH
Labels: benbrook lake, donovan baldwin, love poem, poem, poetry, texas, walking
Thursday, May 22, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
Rain beats rhythms on your skin
A symphony of secret sin.
I trace them as they strike and flow
Lips and tongue behind them go.
Breathless, I chase the silver sting,
A thirst for wildness, on the wing.
Your skin, a canvas, etched with rain,
My lips, medicine for your pain.
Eager, I pursue each drop
Hoping storms will never stop.
Your body only clothed by rain
So tempting to my fevered brain.
You my feast neath weeping sky,
Dance seductively as I
Touch and taste and drink my fill
Fingers drifting where they will.
So let the rain caress your skin,
Awash with past and future sin,
A promise in those beating drops,
Arousing love that never stops.
-----
REVITOL SKINCARE PRODUCTS
Labels: donovan baldwin, love poem, poem, poem about rain, poetry
Friday, May 16, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
So safely protected within her paradise,
A place of quiet beauty and repose,
So peaceful and serene, her heart at ease,
Without storm or flame to shake her placid dreams.
Once upon a gentle breeze, she thought she heard,
A siren call, a poet's words, perhaps deceit,
Yet, suddenly aware of temptations sweet,
The wild words seemed to her such pleasant sins.
But, oh, the risk to heed the poet's call,
How thrilling to set her mind and body free,
To drink deeply from the poet's well,
Perhaps be barred from Eden for eternity.
Trembling she crept closer to the sound
She saw the poet, felt rather than heard,
The heat of his words that burned her bonds away,
Releasing her from Eden's thrall.
Poet took her hand and together,
They left one Eden for another,
Their whispered words bright embers,
Fireflies lighting their new Eden.
-----
Labels: beauty, donovan baldwin, eden, love, peace, poem, poet, poetry
Friday, April 11, 2025
BY DONOVAN
I looked up at stars, I looked cross the sea,
Yearning for the distant and strange.
I just couldn't feel "at home" at home,
But dreamed of the wide open range.
At last I left and crossed the sea,
Tho' I never got to the stars.
I rode the range on eighteen wheels,
Haunted diners and dives and bars.
I'm just not cut from a normal bolt,
Nor sewn in the common style.
I'm happiest when I'm far from home,
And just come back for a while.
It's not the people, the places, or things,
That cause me to move along.
I cannot explain how the stars and the sea,
Sing to me with a Siren's song.
I've got to go tho' I just got here,
I will miss you as soon as I go.
I'm happiest when I'm outward bound,
In a way others never will know.
Most need the hearth and home and heart,
In a place all bounded and set.
I just need a map and a road that leads,
To a place I haven't been yet.
Copyright 7/14/2012 by Donovan Baldwin
-----
Labels: donovan baldwin, poem, poetry, wanderlust
Wednesday, April 02, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
 |
| Don Quixote On His Deeathbed |
"The notary was present, and he said that he'd never read in any book of chivalry that a knight errant had died in his bed so calmly, and in such a Christian way as don Quixote, who, amidst pity and tears of those surrounding him, gave up the ghost; that is, he died."
- 'Don Quixote' by Miguel de Cervantes
A Time To Die
Call when morning's blossom
Lingers still before my eyes,
Or when I've touched my neighbor;
At that time let me die.
Show me roses in a garden, or
Fields stretched beneath the snow,
Catch me dreaming, maybe singing,
I'll be prepared to go.
Don't come when hate surrounds me, or
Simply take me as I sleep.
At the moment of my leaving,
Give me one fine thing to keep.
Copyright: Donovan Baldwin
Labels: death, Don Quixote, donovan baldwin, Miguel de Cervantes, poem, poem about death, poetry
Sunday, March 30, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
I've been reborn, sweet woman.
Returned to a state
I never thought to see again.
I can safely look at you with hope and desire,
Now I've been set free,
But, it's too late for me.
Body and face have aged, though my soul
Has returned to days of wishes and of dreams,
From twenty years ago.
All those I could have, should have, loved,
Are far away and aged now like the man,
I try not to see in the mirror.
Today, the man inside sees lovely women passing,
Who smile and warm his heart, as they think,
"He looks like my dad."
-----
Back story. In 1985, in Copperas Cove, Texas, after several years of trying to hold a broken marriage together (foolish choice), I went to the field at Fort Hood for a military exercise lasting about two weeks. Upon returning "home", I found that my wife had stripped the house, and disappeared, taking our daughter with her, leaving a note that she had begun divorce proceedings. I never felt such a huge sense of relief.
This poem was writer, as I had dinner at the local diner, watching one of the waitresses, Carmen, who had been especially nice to me as I ate dinner alone.
------
Labels: divorce poem, donovan baldwin, flirtation, poem, poetry
Sunday, March 02, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
I will not write the words,
My heart says to speak, for,
Those words hold power,
To open secret doors, and
Crumble mountains into dust.
I will not write the words,
I would have you hear, for,
That would cause both pain,
And, doubled would pain be,
When felt by both apart.
I will not write the words,
That touch so deep within, for,
They speak of hopes that,
Are not mine to give, and,
I am not brave enough to say.
I will not speak the words,
I long so much to speak, for,
They promise of tomorrow,
A real tomorrow over which,
You and I have no control.
I will not speak the words,
As I blindly gaze at mountains, for,
So much stands between me and thee,
And I dare not take that step,
Towards the destruction of my dream.
Labels: donovan baldwin, poem, poetry, power, words
Thursday, February 27, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
That warm and tender grandeur,
Which takes my soul to the
Highest of the heights,
Filling me with wonder, and,
Making me, a mortal man immortal,
For who can die when bound to
Boundless ecstasies of wonderment?
Where does love reside?
When hidden from the view,
Of ordinary mortals, yet,
Visible within all spectrums,
To the wondering eyes of
I, the lover and, you, the loved,
Seeking, and reaching for,
One another, touching in all ways,
You, the one most loved and,
Sought after with all my soul.
Where does love reside,
If not within my heart?
-----
Labels: donovan baldwin, heart poem, love poem, poem, poetry
Sunday, February 16, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
Can see many things...
Such as castles, and spaceships...
And dragons with wings.
But, he'll leave these behind,
With the toys of the child,
Filing those dreams,
Where such things are filed.
He'll be part of the tribe,
With the earth as his home,
Knowing life...sometimes love,
With no reason to roam.
Yet, when day's gone to bed,
And his body is aching,
He'll scan the dark sky,
With his heart somehow breaking.
In that night with the stars
Scattered somewhere "out there",
He'll yearn for the cold,
Where there's not any air.
With a smile on his face,
He'll join others in play,
Hearing dimly a voice,
Which calls him away.
Is it fortune he seeks?
Is he a fool seeking fame?
Or is it part of a man,
Which can never be named?
It's not found in books,
In banks or in bars,
The name of that thing,
Calling him to the stars.
Is it part of his soul,
Which cries from within,
Marked on the man,
Like original sin?
Must he go to the stars,
Just because they're "out there";
Into space, where it's cold,
And there's not any air?
Maybe, just maybe...
He remembers a dream,
Of that child he thought lost,
But not lost it seems.
A man's but a child,
Who yearns to see things,
Such as castles and spaceships...
And dragons with wings.
Labels: donovan baldwin, dragons, dreams, poem, poetry, spaceships
Thursday, February 06, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
 |
The Crown of Love, 1875 by John Everett Millais (English, 1829–1896) |
Have I once known you in
Some other place or time?
Were we lovers then,
Winging forward to the now,
Where we find ourselves
United as before?
These eyes, these lips,
Seeming delightfully new,
Are yet, somehow,
So famliar, and,
Joyful to behold,
To touch once more...
Or so it seems, that
You and I once were one,
Lost to one another...
Seeking through eternity,
For that one who
Filled and made us whole.
I gaze upon you,
Reach for you,
In your newness to
This time and place,
And, with wonderment,
Confused by familiarity
And ease, must ask,
In this now and here...
Have I known you in
Some other place or time?
SPONSORED BY REVITOL SKINCARE PRODUCTS
Labels: donovan baldwin, love poem, lovers, poem, poetry, romantic poetry
Tuesday, February 04, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
My favorite books,
All especially revered
Friends and family,
Have pages turned so often,
They are soft, smooth-cornered,
Marked with my touches,
If not seen, remembered,
Upon pages heavy with underlines,
Notes in the margins,
Never far from
Hand or head or heart.
Closer still,
Remembered, recalled,
More deeply, more often,
Marked more tenderly,
By underlines and notes
Made by my heart,
Are you,
Oh, my Love.
Labels: books, donovan baldwin, love, poem, poetry
Sunday, February 02, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
 |
| Heidelberg Castle |
Up on the hill stands the old broken fortress of Heidelberg.
In her dust-powdered wig from yesterday,
Still standing watch over her city,
Though bare, broken bricks show through, and
Sagging breastworks prove her youth's long past.
Far down, flows the cold, blue-gray water
Of the Neckar,
With the old, arched bridge,
Perhaps seen in postcards,
Showing it in sunlight,
But,
In my mind it is last seen
On a rainy April day.
As I turned to view the bridge,
Behind me,
The vine-entangled castle brooded,
About all the sad history she's endured.
She's been burned, you know, and
Damn near destroyed so many times.
Even so, she still watches over the city.
They say there's a curse on
The old Heidelberg castle,
But, he who laid the curse is long since dead...
Still, the old lady stands there,
Rain, sun, snow...
Watching over her city.
Labels: castle, donovan baldwin, Heidelberg, poem, poetry
Thursday, January 30, 2025
By Donovan Baldwin
my mind's hands fashiona beautiful dress for youonly i can seeyou my model standerect and proudly naked...i measure and cutsetting loving wordsagainst your most precious skinsmoothing them in placeArt: Madame X by John Singer Sargent
Labels: donovan baldwin, dress, poem, poetry
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
We only work with words,We poets do,To sing,To draw,To paint,To point,To link,To loosen that which must be free.We only work with words,We poets do,As best we can,As they comeAs they go,Or stay,Emblazoned on our souls.We only work with words,We poets do,So variable,So insensible,So certain,So unsure,So real,So lying and yet, because...We only work with words,We poets do,We love,We laugh,We cry,We sing,We praise,We demand,We defend,And sometimes...We fail.For...We only work with words, We poets do,And words are clay, which,Though molded properly,And sure and glistening at first,May slump or turn drab,In the heat of day and sight of men.We only work with words,We poets do,And ask the reader to read,What was in minds and hearts,When set upon the page,With eyes like ours,Who saw the sun and sky,And tried to sing its praises,But missed the mark.So too, with love, honor, and courage...Read our tales with piety and pity,For round-shouldered scribes,Trying to make beauty out of letters,For...We only work with words,We poets do,And must leave the living,And understanding of our workUp to you...the reader.Donovan Baldwin30 Jan 2018
Labels: donovan baldwin, poem, poetry, words
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
When people speak of passion,
They use words like
"Hot", "Fiery", "Burning",
As if passion were always heat.
Heat for me evokes
A clearing in a jungle
Or a beach in sunlight,
A summer day spent driving nails,
And carrying iron rods
Made burning hot by the Sun...
Or hard hot times when I wore,
A helmet, a web belt loaded down,
With ammunition, water, and more,
And carried an M-16.
My passions are never near the surface,
And so,
Do not know, or show, "heat".
They are cold as the color of moonlight,
As it showed me your face,
And your body,
In that moment when we took
All each of us could give.
My passions are cold,
But they are true,
And they always lead me back...
To you.
Labels: burning passions, donovan baldwin, m-16, passion, passions, poem, poetry
Saturday, January 25, 2025
BY DONOVAN BALDWIN
When I was a boy, I used to sit in a tree overlooking Pensacola Bay, in Florida, and imagine the water I was seeing touching every foreign shore I could imagine, and some I couldn't.As I heard U.S. Navy sailors speak of lands they had visited, read stories of pirates on the Spanish Main, saw movies such as "South Pacific", or heard of great explorations to the poles, as well as those of discovery from Europe to the "New World", I thought of the water before me, being the very same water spoken of in all those tales and all that history. I even imagined the water vapor being drawn into the sky, gathering as clouds, and returning as rain. The nuns told us that our blood was like seawater, and I, a boy, marveled at my, our, connections...to the ends of the Earth, and to each other. I'm human...mostly. I understand anger and disagreement on issues processes and procedures. I even understand fighting for self-defense, or self-protection. Even though I spent years as a soldier ready to defend my family, my country, my beliefs, I don't understand how, we, as connected and interlinked as we are, can hate and fight just because we don't agree on something. I guess that's "in the blood"...maybe...but, I prefer to think that brotherhood and kinship is there, and, as they say, blood, and kinship, is thicker than water.
Labels: donovan baldwin, Pensacola Bay, poem, poetry, water
