Does Erotic Poetry Mean Graphic?

[DearEmma]

Wasn't sure whether to post a poem as erotic or non-erotic. Reading the poems it seems erotic poems = graphic. Is that the measure or can the poem evoke a sexual situation and still be erotic here?

 

[DearEmma]

Say, for example, which category would a poem like the following fall into?

EPIPHANY

I want to be perceptive
To know things
And be sensible
But my heart is quick

To shade the truth
Like Iago twisting
Packaging the lie
The sound of your voice

Your whisper
Urging me to let go
“Come for me, babe.”
I gasp out on the street

In line at the grocery store
And wonder where you are
Other than in my head.
Did you think of me

At all after you came?
In the moment
In the moment after
And after that?

 

[WickedEve]

Many of this site's "erotic" poems are simply dirty/pornographic and not really that erotic. We've had many threads over the years about porn vs erotica. Anyway, I think your poem is erotic.

 

[EroticOrogeny]

A poem that's labeled as 'erotic' will get more reads, many of the readers may not appreciate your poem that much. I think the word has different connotations for different people. From an online dictionary:

1. arousing or satisfying sexual desire: an erotic dance.
2. of, pertaining to, or treating of sexual love; amatory: an erotic novel.
3. subject to or marked by strong sexual desire.

I would say your poem would be erotic under definition 2 but not 1 from the view of this reader.
I agree with Eve that some of the erotic poems here are pornographic, my earliest (and maybe some others) fall into that category. After a bit more experience around here I decided that such poems were private poems (my wife likes to read them sometimes before we engage in amorous activity). I hope they've also improved in quality with more practice.
A few of my 'non-erotic' poems may have a notable sexual component, include other aspects as well.

 

[butters]

Wasn't sure whether to post a poem as erotic or non-erotic. Reading the poems it seems erotic poems = graphic. Is that the measure or can the poem evoke a sexual situation and still be erotic here?

in my book, erotic does not mean graphic, though some graphic pieces can still be erotic.

for me, the erotic is more about subtlety.

 

[bflagsst]

in my book, erotic does not mean graphic, though some graphic pieces can still be erotic.

for me, the erotic is more about subtlety.

I agree.

Erotic = Sensual

Sensual is opposed to graphic. Subtle vs. in your face as ChipB hinted. A poem might have both sensual and graphic images, but if you're looking at a poem as a whole and say, 'this is a graphic sex poem' I'm sure it's not also gonna be an erotic poem. Not that it's going to be a pornographic poem either, it might just be a graphic, non-sensual poem. It's like saying, "Does long prose-poetry mean epic poetry?" I don't think so, I think they're opposed to each other by working definitions.

 

[greenmountaineer]

Wasn't sure whether to post a poem as erotic or non-erotic. Reading the poems it seems erotic poems = graphic. Is that the measure or can the poem evoke a sexual situation and still be erotic here?

I too have been confused on this point. Some of my earliest submissions I've listed as erotic, but in retrospect really aren't because there isn't much sensuality to them, suggested as the litmus test for erotic in a later posting with which I agree.

It's interesting to note, however, that the ones listed as erotic get more "hits" than those listed as non-erotic.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I too have been confused on this point. Some of my earliest submissions I've listed as erotic, but in retrospect really aren't because there isn't much sensuality to them, suggested as the litmus test for erotic in a later posting with which I agree.

It's interesting to note, however, that the ones listed as erotic get more "hits" than those listed as non-erotic.

Well this is a porno site and it's what draws the punters in !

 

[ChiTownJazz]

I know what you mean. I've had a troublesome time trying to get any feedback on my erotic poem "Peach." The wording, to me, has a double entendre in the sexual/sensual world, but no one would comment on it. I don't know if they understood what I was getting at or simpley that it was too far over their heads to picture what I was saying. Anyway, I am posting it again for someone to comment on. This is a piece I penned way back in 1999. What am I doing wrong???

I Am A Peach

I am a peach -
Plucked in the fullness of the harvest,
Succulent, plump and rosy with life.

Your teeth pierce my fair skin.
My juices well up to mingle with yours as you suckle my sweet flesh,
Savoring the taste of me with your lips and tongue.

You nibble with delight, slowly uncovering my very core.
I tumesce for you.
My flesh expands,
Swells to sheathe your questing mouth as my nectar springs hot and sweet at your urging.

Small sighs and murmurs of pleasure escape you as you drink greedily,
Your fingertips grip my roundness tightly, are wet with me.
My scent, heady as a summer evening beckons.
I fill you with my taste.

At last you raise your head, purring with sensual satisfaction,
Your lips beaded with my dew.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Saying you are a peach is very clichéd it's been said so many times before so there's a minus for originality. It could be paired down a lot too, count how many times the word 'you' and 'yours' has been used and cut them down to the bare minimum. The same with 'I' and 'my'. Find some other way to say 'well up' or cut it altogether. Editing is what is needed IMHO

 

[butters]

I know what you mean. I've had a troublesome time trying to get any feedback on my erotic poem "Peach." The wording, to me, has a double entendre in the sexual/sensual world, but no one would comment on it. I don't know if they understood what I was getting at or simpley that it was too far over their heads to picture what I was saying. Anyway, I am posting it again for someone to comment on. This is a piece I penned way back in 1999. What am I doing wrong???

I Am A Peach

I am a peach -
Plucked in the fullness of the harvest,
Succulent, plump and rosy with life.

Your teeth pierce my fair skin.
My juices well up to mingle with yours as you suckle my sweet flesh,
Savoring the taste of me with your lips and tongue.

You nibble with delight, slowly uncovering my very core.
I tumesce for you.
My flesh expands,
Swells to sheathe your questing mouth as my nectar springs hot and sweet at your urging.

Small sighs and murmurs of pleasure escape you as you drink greedily,
Your fingertips grip my roundness tightly, are wet with me.
My scent, heady as a summer evening beckons.
I fill you with my taste.

At last you raise your head, purring with sensual satisfaction,
Your lips beaded with my dew.

hello, chi.

for me, the initial problem is ambiguity, not a case of it being 'too far over my head'. The ambiguity arises with your choice of the peach - ultimately a most feminine fruit with its sensual skin and erotic shape clearly reminiscent of buttocks/cleavage. I actually thought this WAS about a guy giving his lady oral pleasure until the line 'I tumesce for you' threw a spanner into the works, followed by 'Your fingertips grip my roundness tightly' which didn't seem to fit with the images already playing around. Of course a female can 'tumesce', but that second image (in a man on woman scenario) alienates me.

If your intention is to convey man on woman, then some judicious editing would go a long way to improving this; if your intent's to show a woman pleasuring her man, then it has all kinds of problems.

The fact you chose a peach, that succulent, erotic fruit used over and over in poetry for its sensuality, means that you need to write the piece really really well so it doesn't feel tired or clichéd to some of us who've been reading poetry for a fair few years.

Good luck with any edits you may choose to make.

 

[bflagsst]

I don't think fruit as erotic image has any place in poetry these days. That is, food and genitalia shouldn't represent each other. I thought peach meant pussy, "I split her peach" there's always reference to peach fuzz. No banana acting as a penis in poetry, please. It's pretty gross, fruit juice resembling vaginal secretion and lubrication. No one's calling ejaculate 'goat milk' or 'cat's cream' in any serious way.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

We can all have a cliché moment lol How to eat a banana

 

[bflagsst]

We can all have a cliché moment lol How to eat a banana

Ah, but you don't actually use any fruits or vegetables in the poem itself. If there was no title I might not realize the reference. I like the idea of fruits and vegetables and their symbolism, just not the one to one ratio of peach juice to female lube, or cherries for lips. I might title a poem "My Eve ate a Peach" but it won't use seeming or actual food paraphilia.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Ah, but you don't actually use any fruits or vegetables in the poem itself. If there was no title I might not realize the reference. I like the idea of fruits and vegetables and their symbolism, just not the one to one ratio of peach juice to female lube, or cherries for lips. I might title a poem "My Eve ate a Peach" but it won't use seeming or actual food paraphilia.

I've got one about plums somewhere I will have to have a look, think that was testicular!

 

[Epmd607]

I think erotic poetry means graphic in one sense -- that difference between romanticism and eroticism. The only difference between the two is erotic poetry is a little more graphic than romantic poetry. Romantic poetry alludes to sex and intimacy, erotic poetry alludes to rutting and describes intimacy, pornographic poetry describes rutting and that's it.

 

[Tzara]

No one's calling ejaculate 'goat milk' or 'cat's cream' in any serious way.

So. Some small goat's milk left
accidentally on your barren leg
planted in assembly

while listening to Christ or to the president.
My gathering quick handkerchief cannot
expatiate about this sin, only

smear it wanly over thighs,
and trust that circumstance, forlornly,
makes all well. I'm not

accusative. I'm not. I'm not! But
fashionable, surely.
Shoot! I thought your legs looked swell.

 

[champagne1982]

So. Some small goat's milk left
accidentally on your barren leg
planted in assembly

while listening to Christ or to the president.
My gathering quick handkerchief cannot
expatiate about this sin, only

smear it wanly over thighs,
and trust that circumstance, forlornly,
makes all well. I'm not

accusative. I'm not. I'm not! But
fashionable, surely.
Shoot! I thought your legs looked swell.

And oh sweet girl when the milk
slipped off your cherried lips
and slid down that little number

Jesus! The sexy black dress
needed a cum back into fashion.

Who knew the press
would want my DNA?

 

[EroticOrogeny]

Not exactly "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" :
... Do I dare to eat a peach?
That's a line which has stuck with me for nearly 40 years (there are a lot of bits and pieces of things up there.
I think you've received some meaningful suggestions.
One key question is for what purpose you wrote the poem. Some poems are perhaps 'private' poems, for sharing with your lover. I have some like that, and they were mostly ignored when posted, other than being read by somebody. A lot of the poems posted here are like that, and some appear to be appreciated by others (mostly 'anonymous').
Where did you post your poem? I couldn't find it by searching either your username or the title?
I assume you used 'sheathe' deliberately as a translation of 'vagina', maybe you'd want to keep that - doesn't seem to be terribly common, and condense the previous 2 lines - tumesce = expand = swell.
Like chipbutty, the 'roundness' seemed out of place here.
Also, with teeth piercing skin, followed by juices I also think of blood.
Anyhow, welcome to the poetry forum.

 

[bflagsst]

And oh sweet girl when the milk
slipped off your cherried lips
and slid down that little number

Jesus! The sexy black dress
needed a cum back into fashion.

Who knew the press
would want my DNA?

Here's an experiment, take the milk in your fridge, face a mirror and drip it down your lips and chin. Most likely it's a watery skim milk and really hurts the image. 'Cream' would be a slightly different story. Shakey in sonnet 130, I believe, refrains from using 'cherry lips' instead goes with the cherry color of coral. But Robert Herrick has the most original usage with his 'cherry-ripe'. I'm guessing cherry lips was played out in Shakey's time, that fruit to body ratio even.

I don't know what to say about goat's milk, I was just throwing that out there. Now that I read the poem I can't help but think of Feta Cheese, that smell and the yeast infection, unhealthy discharge on the thigh... I'm fucking gross.

 

[butters]

Here's an experiment, take the milk in your fridge, face a mirror and drip it down your lips and chin. Most likely it's a watery skim milk and really hurts the image. 'Cream' would be a slightly different story. Shakey in sonnet 130, I believe, refrains from using 'cherry lips' instead goes with the cherry color of coral. But Robert Herrick has the most original usage with his 'cherry-ripe'. I'm guessing cherry lips was played out in Shakey's time, that fruit to body ratio even.

I don't know what to say about goat's milk, I was just throwing that out there. Now that I read the poem I can't help but think of Feta Cheese, that smell and the yeast infection, unhealthy discharge on the thigh... I'm fucking gross.

*larfin so much here*

 

[AChild]

Erotic moves the snake in the grass. Unseen by those without height above the blades. Its a subtle spring that binds nerves, the breath that threatens bump geese to flight. The filthy words need not apply but sometimes help to draw out those last "hard to clean" ounces.

 

[The_Fool]

Label me foolish...

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Label me foolish...

and where should I stick the label oh great foolish one?

 

[ahh696900]

Hows this for erotic?

Heavy breathing,muffled sighs,
His head, buried between my wifes smooth thighs,
Her face so flushed,her nostrils flaring,
Me, full of love,full of caring,
Bed sheets scrunched,her fists,tightly gripping,
His expert tounge busy,probing,slipping

As her passion started to grow,
I sat back,watched the erotic show,
She on her back,legs parted wide,
My wife,my love,beautiful bride,
Him poised,erection big and throbbing,
Jutting out proud,erect and bobbing.

He slid inside with a smooth,steady thrust,
My wife now eager,consumed with lust,
They squirmed,jerked,writhing in mutual pleasure,
My wife the prize,the ultimate treasure,
Gliding inside so velvety,tight and slick,
She wriggled impaled upon his dick.

Then he filled her with floods of his seed,
Her legs round his waist,urging,hungry,full of need,
She milked him,drained him dry,
He gave a sobbing,drawn out cry,
My wife now inhibitions gone without a trace,
Somehow different,showing a new face.

Raised on her elbows,smiled at me and beckons,
Legs shamelessly akimbo for my sloppy seconds,
So for us this works,the excitement,passion sharing,
So close,so happy together caring,
We share our thoughts,every deep desire,
Keeps our passion alight,full of fire.

Twenty two years married and so happy together.( to the many people that will be full of scorn for us)