Permissive Experiment

At your own risk you enter.
Blinded by naïve enthusiasm
you do not suspect that
seduction in this nest
is a regular event.

The trappings are intriguing;
if you care to, dare to
look beyond your own
pressing purpose
to score.

Foreplay begins in the opulent parlor
where the first of many drinks are served.
Barcelona chairs and grand piano
the backdrop to respectability.
The graceful coffee table bear
‘Erotic Art of India’ and
a Mayan fertility urn.
A bookshelf sports more risky reading,
carefully suppressed in leather boxes
pamphlets on STDs and HIV.

Mr. Lust is a Leo
with a staccato, hyena laugh.
In pretentious upper class accent
he calls forth his house, his boat, his land.

He sees you drool and knows
his cliché charm
is fresh and flattering to you.
With license he proceeds
To smoothly talk of risqué things
he read in the ‘Joy of Sex’

Slowly all sense is eroded as
sensuality floods
prudent reason.
As expected,
you turn talk into action

as
unprotected
you cavort
in contorted positions
until he shrieks:
‘The best ever!”
You die, you sigh,
you believe his lie.

And in the morning while he snores
you snoop, you find
the tools and toys
for other kinds of sex.
Slowly it dawns on you
that you are but an item on a menu.
There are others more kinky
who cater to the eclectic appetite
of Lust.

Oh, slink away from that lack luster lair,
that lascivious lair of lust.
Your tail between your legs,
your fingers tightly crossed.
Pray, it’s only your ego that is crushed.

About the Author

Therese Benadé, author of Kites of Good Fortune, writes about her heritage and upbringing in South Africa and her travels and living experiences on five continents. A Canadian citizen, she lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts with her husband, Jim Armstrong. Her two adult children are Rex and Kirstie van der Spuy. Read more...

Books
  • Kites of Good Fortune

    A story about the lives of the author’s ancestors at the Cape of Good hope in the 17th and 18th centuries. Published 2004. 

  • Anna, Dogter van Angela van Bengale

    The Afrikaans translation of Kites of Good Fortune.

  • Bluestocking

    Set in South Africa between 1880 and 1927, the book explores the intellectual and moral influences on South African women of the ‘head, heart and hand’ education brought by American teachers from Mount Holyoke College.

  • The Layered Life of Tok-Tokkie

    Stories from my life touching on my childhood, my travels and teaching career, on being an immigrant, on learning languages and unlearning racism.

All books...

Bits & Pieces

All pieces...