Play Me
by Elya Braden Elya Braden

A writer, actress, and singer since her youth, Elya Braden took a long detour from her creative endeavors to pursue an eighteen-year career as a corporate lawyer and entrepreneur, eventually launching a networking group for experienced female lawyers. After fifteen years in Seattle, she now enjoys pursuing her creativity in the Southern California sunshine. In her free time, she volunteers with Free Arts for Abused Children and Insight Seminars, a personal development program.

Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Dogwood, Echoes Poetry Journal, Euphony, and Scratch Anthology (Volume 3). She's attended numerous workshops including Advanced Creative Nonfiction, Intermediate Poetry, and The Multi-Tasking Muse (a poetry writing workshop), all through UCLA Extension, as well as Method Writing with Jack Grapes. She has studied with Ellen Bass, Michelle Bitting, Marie Howe, Richard Jones, Dorianne Laux, Suzanne Lummis, and Joseph Millar.

Set me on fire
                       with your
                              velvet fingers
                                     caress me
                                        with your curious
                                             lips unlace my
                                                 fettered finery
                                                   unhinge my
                                                       shackled mind
                                                          breathe me
                                                            into willow song
                                                              bend my
                                                               intractable spine
                                                                 butterfly my
                                                                  smoldering skin
                                                                    make me howl
                                                                      at the moon                           bathe me in molasses
                                                                        eat me with                              your silver spoon
                                                                          salsa dance me                       whirling hot tango
                                                                            me till dawn                           give it to me all
                                                                              you've got                            scorch me torch
                                                                                me blaze me                     amaze me set
                                                                                 me on fire with           your velvet
                                                                                   fingers tongue sizzling circles
                                                                                    across my thighs electrify my
                                                                                       midnight bones let me be
                                                                                        your sultry saxophone
                                                                                              play me baby
                                                                                                   play me

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