On November 27th, 2022, the 8,000th article was added to the SuccuWiki!
Succubus (Poem V)
For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).
The following is a poem written by Bradley Steffens.
The original webpage is: here.
The author's website is: here.
Succubus
by Bradley Steffens
- arrives unseen at the window ledge,
- parts gauzy curtains around slim hips,
- waits while her opal eyes, teared with flight,
- adjust to darkness.
- On the double bed, a man
- lies on his back, naked under the sheet
- as always. As always his nightgowned wife
- sleeps at mattress edge, curled like a fist.
- The demon raises her slender arms
- high overhead, lifting the hem of the curtain,
- letting the pale fabric billow like angels’ wings
- in a private parody of the annunciation.
- She smiles at her dominion.
- In a step she stands at bedside, gently
- slips the sheet from her victim’s form,
- tracing the curve of his shoulders
- with her fingertips.
- Lips meet. Then tongues.
- Teeth lightly click on teeth until
- she lowers and fills herself in one motion.
- All night long she takes, takes, enjoying
- the human’s secret thoughts and desires
- without his knowledge.
- Yet in that violation the fiend
- asks nothing, requires nothing, leaves the man
- to awaken to a blue and empty room
- with no memory of the transgression, only
- the curious but certain sensation
- that the whole of this world somehow exceeds
- the sum of its visible parts.
Copyright © 2007 by Bradley Steffens
Commentary by this poem's author
Tera was contacted by Bradley Steffens about his work and he made the following comments:
I thought I would add that this poem originally appeared in The Bellingham Review, Vol. 11, No.1, Spring 1988, Shelley Rozen, ed.
You might be interested in knowing that I consider "Succubus" the best poem I have ever written--and as you can see from my page, I have written and published quite a lot. Also, while I am the author of 28 nonfiction books, I have always considered myself a poet, first and last. So it means a lot to me that this poem I think so highly of is gaining a larger audience thanks to your efforts.
Special thank yous and huggles from Tera to Bradley for taking the time to discuss his work with her...