Sotto Poet Poet Free verse

Listen to poem:

Secrets Hidden in Lotion

Written: July 17, 2025, for contest sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
Quote: "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words," By Poet

           *********

It glides—not gently, 
but akin to a scrupulous scalpel, 
a syllabic salve for rusted throats 
and trapped desires.
It drips down the well of grief, 
melting into metaphor, 
softening jagged memories 
into pains that are easier to bear.

This poetry is not serene.
It is slick with secrets 
and greasy with grammar's 
serpentine filth, 
and sentences thrum 
through the engine of anguish.
You utter the words, 
and the universe starts to shift. 
A bearing in the brain, 
a balm under the bruises, 
and syntax strung, such as silk 
between broken cogs of memory.

Each line is dense.
Each verse unwinds—
caught in the hinge of desire and pain.
Essence of the oracle,
gleam of refinement.
Let it spread: 
a rhythm that caresses, 
a mouthful of taut truths 
seeping through the snags of silence.

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Howard Kerr July 28, 2025 at 8:32 AM Sotto, I’m thunderstruck by this deep delve into the many facets of poetry ands its pivotal role in catharsis where deep agonies often lurk. You illustrate your verse with surgical precision and metamorphic metaphors that swirl and swerve with vigour. Congratulations Howard

Valsa George July 24, 2025 at 9:33 PM From the quote at the beginning to the last line, I love your poem. It is masterfully written with a plethora of thoughts on poetry, its cathartic effect after the vent of burning pain. It is at once a cudgel and a cake, a balm for the bruises, 'softening jagged memories'. Lovely poem and sure, one of my FAVEs.

Rowena Velasco July 18, 2025 at 4:05 AM This poem cuts deep with its raw honesty and vivid imagery. I love how you capture poetry’s transformative power—as both a balm and a razor—shaping pain into something bearable and even beautiful. Truly haunting and masterfully crafted.

sara Etgen-Baker July 17, 2025 at 5:11 PM I loved your beginning quote...it resonated with me as did your poem. Your words are dense indeed. I especially liked the last verse

Paige Hind July 17, 2025 at 12:13 PM "It glides—not gently, but akin to a scrupulous scalpel" a fav for me

Duke Beaufort July 17, 2025 at 7:45 AM SP, indeed it's a struggle to communicate and to understand what we see. One has to be able to probe deeply, and that's really tough these days. Hope you are well and sending smiles!!