It’s Weekend Writing Prompt time. Sammi does specify that we can do variations on the word and, while I feel I am totally cheating in doing so, I’m still doing so!
There was a sense of déjà vu for this one since last Monday, the dVerse Quadrille challenge was “gasp” which one can do when something is breathtaking, no? Of course, this time, I have 30 less words to play with and have gone a whole ‘nother route 🙂
A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in the comments.
Thank you, Sammi, for this fun weekly challenge. Should you want to play along, leave your link here.
Who the hell stamped me “Best Before —”? I am unsure of the exact date but it appears I may have passed my “Desirable Expiration Date”. Never occurred to me that I might even have one. I can’t help but think of that silly (not so silly) skit with Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Patricia Arquette and Amy Schumer.
Okay, okay, I know, I’m not an actress – so those sorta “rules” are not supposed to apply. Right, uh huh, sure. I may not get the gig either.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am very much desirable to the unavailable (read, married), older (you’re 72? I’m only 55, FFS!), substance-enhanced (read drunk or stoned). Boy, they come at me hard (well, maybe not so much), lemme tell you. Really makes me feel sexy and desirable. As if it is a turn on to be given a slot in the day when he is available for a quickie in a seedy motel: “You don’t really want a drink or a meal do you? How ’bout I save a buck and go to your place?” Or how about being told: “You turn me on, and I’m very romantic but I’m not into the deep dive coz…” Well, coz you’re too old, Dude, and sans blue or pink pill, the parts don’t function! But the best is being approached by someone who is three sheets to the wind or buzzed out of his mind. Yeah, that really tells me how fabulous I am… truly. I do look my best when I’m blurry.
I am, of course generalizing here. Not all married men want just a quickie; not all older gents have issues; as for sex with drunks? No thanks, there I can say I have been there, done that, don’t want the t-shirt, or the lack of, um, satisfaction for all your going-nowhere efforts.
While I am not looking for a steady boyfriend and definitely not marriage, it would be nice to meet a fella or two with whom I could go on dates with. You know, dinner with interesting conversation and a movie and who knows, maybe a horizontal mambo should the desire strike us both – without the worry of someone being hurt, or business remaining unfinished, or feeling like I should find a bill or two on the nightstand.
I’m not dead yet – very much alive, to tell the truth – and though things may not be as quite fresh and firm as they once were, they are not that bad at all and still quite ripe (not yet over-ripe) for the picking, or more precisely, a fondling. The ladies my age and older (those who are still interested in romance and passion – and I respect those who have closed that door, even if I don’t understand it) know that we still have many good years ahead of us.
We want to feel the goosebumps with a light touch of fingertips and lips as we tilt our head back, exposing our neck. We want to feel the heat rise in our bellies and spread out through to the tips of our extremities, imbuing us a warm glow. Give us cause to catch our breath in anticipation of what comes next.
Nope. My “Best Before” date has not arrived yet. But that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve something better.
La beauté n’a pas d’importance. Quand on est un homme aimable, on finit par avoir une beauté dans le regard, dans la manière d’être en vieillissant.¹
— Charles Aznavour
The lyrics, in both French and English, are here Qui Who
Il faut savoir, coûte que coûte, Garder toute sa dignité Et, malgré ce qu’il nous en coûte, S’en aller sans se retourner Face au destin qui nous désarme.²
— Charles Aznavour
Helluva preamble to my post, eh? Lemme explain myself before I continue. Yesterday, the world lost the fabulous French/Armenian singer, Charles Aznavour – also known as the “Frank Sinatra of France”. You can’t really feel bad. The man was 94 and had a most prolific life. If you click on his name, you have access to a wonderful article on his life as well as a link to his most famous English song “She”.
But I digress…
Because of his passing, I ended up on YouTube to listen to my favourite tunes by him, such as “La Bohème” and “Emmenez-moi” (the latter being, by the way, IMPOSSIBLE to sing along to in a Karaoke session. Trust me. I’ve tried) and left YouTube to do its thing and play whatever it felt like… well.
Along came Cesária Évora and her sultry voice singing “Besame Mucho”. My Spanish is so-so but passable enough to know that Besame had to do with kissing. So, of course, the Google came into use when I searched the English translation of the song for confirmation. While I continue blathering on, g’head, enjoy the late great Cesaria…
I started thinking about kissing. And how much I love it. And miss it. I think we don’t spend nearly enough time kissing, to tell the truth. I’m not talking about those pecks on the cheeks or those chaste, dry, barely-there touches of lips, unless those are just to lead up to the real thing. I’m talking about those deep, long, slow kisses that turn your insides to liquid mercury. I’m talking From Here to Eternity beach kiss scene…
Those mornings when we kiss and surrender for an hour before we say a single word.”
― David Levithan
When you first start dating, you spend so much time just kissing: while taking a walk, while doing dishes, while sitting on the couch. It doesn’t matter where but you sneak them in wherever and whenever you can. You can’t seem to get enough. And it’s not automatically a foreplay of foreplay, either. Not saying that it can’t be, mind you… You kiss just to feel connected to your partner. You’re getting to know them on an intimate level. The dance appeals, you keep on dancing.
“If we’re going to kiss, it has to be book-worthy.”
― Colleen Hoover
Now, what I write here is my own personal experience and I am totally generalising but somehow, I am sure many can relate.
After a while, your relationship falls into that long term category. Kissing is still very enjoyable but the spontenaity has decreased. As has duration of most kisses. They are not so deep and long. You may still find yourselves kissing for kissing’s sake but let’s face it, it is now more of a foreplay to foreplay.
“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”
― Ingrid Bergman
Years pass and you are happily coupled – married or not, same diff, to me… Kissing somehow has taken a backseat. No matter how much love is between you, those long, slow, deep kisses are now reserved for the bedroom as foreplay. Or maybe they start in the living room or kitchen (if you’re lucky) but they’re still an invitation to make your way to your love nest. And they don’t last that long anymore. Mind you, my circumstances made that I didn’t get a chance to find out what happens when the children leave the family home… Does your kissing game go up a notch? Do you do like those silly movies and transform your son’s bedroom into a “play room”? I sure like to think so. I like to imagine that you rediscover that freedom you had when you first met.
I’m not saying some couples don’t kiss and kiss often. But do they last more than a few seconds? Rarely. But hey, they are still good. Kudos to the couples who have kept up their kissing game.
“Now a soft kiss – Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss.”
― John Keats
One last thing. Another reason I decided to write this post it this: I never thought to find myself back “on the market”, so to speak at my age. Thanks, Mick. Dammit.
That said. I will TOTALLY judge you on your kiss. If you don’t try to kiss me on our first date, that might be okay, depending on how the date went…. then again, it will show me you are not that into me. Cool. We move on.
If you do kiss me? I will decide then and there if we move on to the next stage.
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¹ Beauty has no importance. When we are a lovable man, we end up with a beauty in our gaze, in our way of being while growing older.
² One must know, no matter the cost, how to keep one’s dignity. And, despite the personal cost, to move forward, without looking back and face the destiny that disarms us.
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A Dalectable Life 