Fine China

[Brian Roberts]

Fine China

Fine China is my Love;
fragile, delicate,sensually serviceable.
Although I worship her
I do not put her on a pedestal.
I keep her locked in a cabinet,
that is where she needs to be.
Letting her out on special occasions
so my guest might enjoy her.
They each treat her according;
to their personalities and
their own predilections:
some gentle, some rough.
She acquiesces to each demand.
After all have had their use of her
we adjourn to another room,
leaving her naked, alone and soiled.
Later, they depart, but no goodbyes,
or a thank you for her
flawless performance.
Afterwards when we are alone
I draw her bath of soapy hot water.
Stroking her, then plunging her in
her edge breaking the water’s surface. 
Baptized I lift her out reborn again;
her sins washed away, a virgin once more.
I dry her carefully, gently, lovingly,
feeling the raised design on her surface,
like goosebumps on enervated skin.
Then, stacked neat all in its place,
I once again lock the cabinet door
until the next time.


©2005, revised 2021

I was rather gorgonized by the poem. Much of its effectual metaphors are tactile, beginning with the line "I draw her a bath of soapy water"; I love "like goosebumps on enervated skin." Much too often poetry enlists ocular metaphors, and it is refreshing to experience tactile references. I do feel, as others have noted, that the narrator betrays the "sensuality" of the relationship by his/her seeming detachment. It was a pleasure reading, thanks for sharing!