Erotic Haiku of Skin on Skin

by Terry Anne Carter, George Swede

The meaning of "erotic" varies greatly among the contributors to Erotic Of Skin On Skin . To many, it conjures actual foreplay, climax and an array of emotions afterwards. For others, it is linked only tangentially to the sexual watching a bee enter a flower, recalling a glance from another or the smell of someone's hair or skin smooth to the touch or a whisper in one's ear or the taste of something sweet on a lover's tongue. Finally, a few see the erotic in terms of humor through wordplay and unexpected juxtapositions. Such a broad spectrum of the erotic guarantees that all readers are sure to find something pleasing. (George Swede)

60 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Lauren Bak · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s all well and good to say a poetry collection is “well-intentioned” or “historically significant” or “diverse and inclusive,” but what really matters is: are the poems good? Do they deliver what the introduction promises?

Short answer: yes!

Here’s one of my favorites:

quickie
the pasta
boils over

— Michael Dudley

Is this poem erotic? Not exactly. But the playful comparison between orgasm and the foaming water erupting from the pot paints a vivid image, while being fun and unexpected… much like a good quickie!

Of course, there are more “traditionally” erotic poems, too. Where Western erotic verse often overindulges in metaphor or overwrought lyricism, these poems are succinct to the point of teasing. They leave you to fill in the silences. They flirt with the reader.

This book is only 60 pages long, but it manages to pack a punch — and to cover a spectrum of erotic images in tight, focused images. Like a snapshot, a haiku is a flash, the smallest peek at the world.

The back of the book states:

To many, it [the word “erotic”] conjures actual intercourse — foreplay, climax, and an array of emotions afterwards. For others, it is linked only tangentially to the sexual act: watching a bee enter a flower, recalling a glance from another or the smell of someone’s hair or skin smooth to the touch or a whisper in one’s ear or the taste of something sweet on a lover’s tongue.

Fortunately, Swede and Carter’s collection captures both (or perhaps, many) meanings of eroticism.

For readers used to associating haiku with nature or Zen insight, this volume might be a surprise. But then again, sex is nature. To write of touch, of breath, of the moment when language gives way to feeling… is that not nature? Is that not haiku?

[Bill Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection.