Venus Blushing
“This is not a love story, but love is in it. That is, love is just outside it, looking for a way to break in.” ― Jeanette Winterson, Lighthousekeeping
[cover is from “Miss Mathilde Townsend” by John Singer Sargent]
Inspired by Super Catholic Ultra Straight Girl’s makeup post, 2 new poems that stem from Venus, be it planet, symbol, or goddess. Isn’t it both wonderful and terrifying — what love does to us, what love does for us?
Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system, and is sometimes called Earth’s twin. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets. Venus has phases, just like our Moon – full, half, quarter, etc, though its cycles take much longer to complete. In a rather abstract way, we could say time flows differently on Venus (your “day” would be 243 Earth days long). Venus is named for the ancient Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty, and fertility, who was known as Aphrodite to the ancient Greeks. The goddess was born of the foam from the sea, from spilled titan blood.
moth to the flame
Brighter than the king of heaven’s Love herself —
a beating heart coated in gold, breaking its shell
thrumming
.-.. --- ...- . --..-- / .-.. --- ...- . --..-- / .-.. --- ...- .
love, love, love
.-.. --- ...- . / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / - . .- .-. / ..- ... / .- .--. .- .-. -
love will tear us apartslender Aphrodite has overcome me
In the moment of the clash, time thins
into a fine line,
a wispy film flashing future memories
dissolved in white light
Lying in the tall grass, I remember your hand,
its weight pressing on my palm,
shapeshifting into sunlight and dissipating
into a waterfall of warmth
This was a long time ago, I think —
somewhere far behind the fearful eye
of Andromeda.
Every moment echoes distantly:
I can't hear it
any more than I can hear the death of a star
I am now spinning
inside this pearly swirl of life,
abuzz, and stretching
its thinning body
into the shape of infinity
The darkness is deepening
and yet —
my hands don't shake as I turn to itRead the previous poems: age of jupiter | kimah | GJ 504 b
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https://science.nasa.gov/venus/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus
https://science.nasa.gov/venus/venus-facts/
https://www.britannica.com/place/Venus-planet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_(mythology)
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Venus-goddess
https://www.worldhistory.org/venus/




the way you write is beautiful omg. can we pls pls be mutuals ❤️❤️substack has been low key quiet lately i wld love love love if u wld read my pieces and i read yours?! i wanna connect man🥲🥲
Love the dread that last one gives me