Ravenarch Press™ spotlights a poem by Freya Larsen called "The Taste of You is Haunting Me" about love, loss, and the enduring power of another's memory.
About the Poem
We asked Freya Larsen what the poem meant to her and how it might be perceived by readers. Below is a short snippet from a conversation with the author, in which she details the work.
Where does this poem come from?
Deep inside. It's closely related to another poem I wrote called "The Taste of Summer," which also encompasses many of the same emotions. They were written on the same day. In the same session, actually.
What does this poem mean? What is its message?
The poem is about the memory of someone loved dearly and how that memory has become part of the speaker's lifeblood. There's an attempt to escape the memory and try to live life without their distance being a central part of their existence, but it's of no use. The loved one, in this case, appears to the speaker everywhere. In songs, in passages from a book, in the very air.
I think the mention of "your killer voice" is an important admission, as the loved one's voice emits a command for sweet surrender into an abyss where the speaker can't do anything or go anywhere without the memory of that person following them. No screaming, no running, no act can sever the ties that bind the speaker to the memory, and so, the taste of that person haunts them like the phantom of a life once lived.
The Taste of You is Haunting Me
The taste of you is how I am haunted
Of fresh waters and musky seas
Your scent hurries me to bitter waves
To a place, I can't escape
I am gone without you, living in wait
With no time and in no space
Avoiding my thoughts
So tender yet prime
They are my lifeblood
The memories of you and me
I could run, I could falter
I could scream out loud and never silence
I could ride away but would still be chased
By your killer voice and tender embrace
You can chase me across the sea
Across the sky and through melodies
But I'd be running to be at peace
For if I stopped, it wouldn't cease,
Because,
The taste of you is haunting me.
©Freya Larsen 2023
"The Taste of You is Haunting Me" was originally published on author Freya Larsen's website. Visit the Poetry tab for more poems by this author.
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