Two Poems By Sam Barbee

                    My Special Girlfriend

Black lace adorns my desirable friend.
Madam’s S&M playthings torque the tryst—
ignites appetite for unexplored bliss.
Consensual force—no feign, no pretense.

Her terms instruct: forget limits you’ve known.
Those old-school thrills are no longer enough—
spiked heels force a bad-dog howl for what’s rough.
Stud collar tames: dictates to go, then come.

Red quill tickles this new threshold’s strange twitch.
Risqué countdown. Sharp nails etch muscled chest.
Ms. X scolds, releases best of the beast—
teeth clamp tongue. Reigns with a dominant kiss.

Both hands freed, my racing pulse idles down.
I grin content as she glides in white gown. 

                    2/3’s

All souls should sing out for 100 years.
Bring over your bongos—I’m 2/3’s there!
Let’s reform decorum—guzzle dark beer.
Forget ice cream, cake: not really my fare.

My body’s new wrinkles know where I’ve been,
but still take that next step as if the first.
Forget the kind smile, I’ll map my rough skin:
scars relate lessons from hungers and thirst.

Take a swim this dawn: tides grant a new chance
to buoy on shimmer, soul floating free.
Death is the first day of tomorrow’s dance.
Light the damn candles, embrace the flames’ tease.

Let’s go already—allow time its fray—
dance through new gateways revealing fresh days.

Sam Barbee’s most-recent collection is titled Apertures of Voluptuous Force (2022, Redhawk Publishing). Three previous collections include That Rain We Needed (2016, Press 53), a nominee for the Roanoke-Chowan Award as one of North Carolina’s best poetry collections of 2016. Also, Uncommon Book of Prayer (2021, Main Street Rag) which chronicles family travels in England.

His poems appeared recently in Poetry South, Salvation South, Dead Mule School of Literature, and Streetlight Magazine, also upcoming in Cave Wall, among others; plus on-line journals Ekphrastic Review, Verse Virtual, Grand Little Things, and Medusa’s Kitchen; and is a two-time Pushcart nominee.