Lust

by Diana Raab

A passionate journey through private emotional moments, Diana Raab's Lust voices the pain of loneliness and the heart's yearning for love while transcending the depths of human desire. In her fourth book of poetry, Raab employs narrative verse that is alive, titillating, and seductive. Lust examines the emotional and physical complexity of love, helping readers navigate the risks of intimacy as we move toward the realization that every experience enriches our lives, whether we perceive it as joy, pain, or out of the ordinary. Yet for all their psychological richness, the poems's simplicity and accessibility will resonate with women and men across all walks of life. Lust is a book you won't put down and won't soon forget.

Genres: Poetry, Romance

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Diana Raab, PhD is a memoirist, poet, essayist, thought-leader, and speaker. She presents workshops in writing for healing and transformation. She has a PhD in Psychology with a concentration in Transpersonal Psychology with a research focus on the healing and transformative powers of memoir writing. Her educational background also includes health administration, nursing, and creative writing.

She teaches two courses on “DailyOM: Write. Heal. Transform: A Magical Memoir Writing Course“ and “Therapeutic Writing.”

She’s an award-winning author of 13 books, and her articles and poems have been published and anthologized worldwide. She’s also the editor of two anthologies, "Writers on the Edge: 22 Writers Speak About Addiction and Dependency," and "Writers and Their Notebooks."

Raab’s memoirs include "Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal" and "Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey". She has 5 poetry collections, including her latest, "An Imaginary Affair: Poems Whispered to Neruda".

Her writing workshops and inspirational speaking engagements are based on her books "Writing for Bliss: A Seven-Step Plan for Telling Your Story and Transforming Your Life" and "Writing for Bliss: A Companion Journal".

Raab’s latest memoir, "Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors, a memoir with reflection and writing prompts" was released in January 2024.

She writes for Psychology Today, Thrive Global, Medium, The Wisdom Daily, Sixty And Me, The Good Men Project, and many others.

For more information, check out her website, www.dianaraab.com

Reviews

[SoWrongItsRANDI {Bell, Book & Candle} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bell, Book & Candle | Lust Spotlight, Review & Giveaway

I have been a long time poetry fan since I Shel Silverstein's books when I was in second grade, and to be truthful, I knew how to write poems before I could write stories. This collection of poems are more about a woman's journey through love, passion etc, and not BDSM like 50 Shades of Grey. I'm forewarning you all because while I was reading this, my friend was gawking at me like I was reading a smutty magazine. How rude!

I feel very moved by these poems, and quite a few of them resonated with me. Now I do not know about the author's private life, but there was a reference to breast cancer in a few poems. I, too, am facing cancer but of the ovaries. I know what it is like to have had a beautiful body before, but now have one with scars. I know what it's like to not want to look in the mirror because you don't like what you see; to feel self conscious that everyone is looking at your scar. So naturally I teared up while reading poems regarding that topic because I'm living in it.

I can't say the same for the rest of it because I'm not in a relationship, but I have seen parallels between the poems and my friends' romantic relationships. I do think everyone should read these poems, as everyone (generally) is trying to find love/ be loved.

[Carl Brookins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lust, from my American Heritage dictionary (1953) is defined as overpowering or overmastering desire. Lust is also defined as principally desire or love of an intense sexual nature. Elsewhere, love is defined as the intense and overpowering desire of a human for one of the opposite sex. I include these entries as a way into a consideration of this slender, intense, volume of narrative poems, focused, as the title suggests, on the physical elements of love and desire between the woman as writer and lover and the objects of her lust and desire, which in this case are certainly male.

Still, one might make a case, at times, for a feminine target and would not violate the fabric of emotion woven by the writer in these poems. By turns, tender, firm and even raunchy, they provide a rollercoaster of insight into what might be a long and sometimes turbulent relationship between two lovers.

And while we may be drawn again and again to the explosive physical side of the relationship, it is the flow of emotional highs and lows that hold together this narrative and in the end, offer up a sort of satisfaction and even bliss. We recognize the poet has seen and recognized the same emotions that most humans experience in the physicality of sex, that we, the readers have likewise experienced. We welcome the presence of a kindred spirit and one who, with the passage of time, speaks as we might.

This is a lovely, thoughtful and joyously lustful collection of intimate times. Well-done.

[R.l. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Provocative, dramatic, passionate words. I keep this by my bed and read a selection every night.
Time richly spent.
*FTC Disclosure: I received this book free through the GoodReads Giveaways. The opinions in this review are my own.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

**This review was originally posted on my old blog for a blog tour on September 23rd, 2014. An updated version can also be found on my new blog Bookish Wanderlove.**

“If you know lust like I know lust
you know how it grabs you
in places that feel so good,
in a way that trumps tomorrow.

It snatches and strangles our pasts away
and forges forbidden futures,
while injecting needles of pure pleasure
into any artery receptive to its dose.”

The Book / Cover - Presentation is everything, right? When I received Lust in the mail I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful! The picture above does not do this book justice of how beautiful that cover really is. This book this thin and really light, but what I love the most is how soft it is. This might sound weird, but there is just something about it's softness and the way it sits in my hands that just added to the whole experience of reading Lust.

So far I've read Lust twice. The first time I read Lust I was on the subway heading home and I know for a fact that the other passengers were able to pick up on what I was reading due to my facial expression and the cover. Let's just say I don't have a good poker face. I wasn't uncomfortable with reading this in public but it's just something I probably would have wanted to read at home for my first read. The second time I read Lust I was curled up in bed with my mug of tea and had a thunderstorm for background music. And this was a perfect way to read Lust in my opinion!

Lust covers the highs and lows of intimacy. I found myself to be completely lost within the words I was reading, at times I felt like I was in the book. I really believe that Lust just has a way of pulling different emotions out of it’s readers, wither it be passion, sex, or the hunger and thirst for someone.

I don't think I can say that I have one poem that is my favourite (this may change), every poem touched me in a different way but some of the ones I constantly read over and over again are What Women Want, Muse Me, Found, My Morphine and Protection. These were the poems that I found myself connecting with the most, I'm not sure why exactly but these poems were the ones that just grabbed me. This doesn't mean I didn't connect with the other poems because I most certainly did, there isn't a single poem that I didn't like.

I have to say though I was a little surprised with some of the reviews I read in which people have said they couldn't really relate/connect with Lust because of the topics and because they weren't in a relationship. It doesn't matter if your in a relationship, married, single or what, we all feel love, we all want love. It's just this standard emotion that we all want to feel and I really believe that Lust just has a way of pulling different emotions out of it's readers, wither it be passion, sex, or the hunger and thirst for someone.

Overall, Lust was a wonderful selection of poems. I'm so happy that TLC Book Tours allowed me to take part in this blog tour!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHERE ELSE

where else but in art

can you let your fantasies blossom

and dreams flower–

nowhere.

Lust is the fourth book of poetry by Diana Raab. The book explores the emotional and physical intimacy of love, painting brief pictures of private moments shared between individuals and the complex feelings that they evoke.

As in most collections of poems or short stories, some words seemed to leap off the page, while others fell flat. Part of the beauty of reading a collection of work is that it gives readers a glimpse of some of the different things an author is capable of, and it gives the author a chance to experiment with different styles of writing. The poems that I disliked were the ones that tried too hard to rhyme, which constrained the emotional message and made them seem trite.

But enough of that. Most of the poems in this collection were fantastic. On to the ones that I loved most!

What Women Want

This poem blew me away. It describes a man at a bar who asks the narrator what she wants in a man, and her response as she realizes that she doesn’t want material goods, just love. Oh, and an espresso machine. Woman after my own heart!

Thank You

This theme of learning to accept oneself after recovering from breast cancer is a thee that runs through several of the poems in the collection, and Raab presents it in a powerful and compelling way. In this poem, a woman who survived breast cancer has an intimate encounter in the shower with a man. She expects him to judge her or stare or become disconcerted by the fact that she’s had a mastectomy, but is instead awed and overwhelmed by the fact that he accepts her as she is with no questions asked. The fact that he doesn’t judge her and that the two of the get past the initial awkward moment and begin to enjoy each other is a major turn-on for the narrator and makes her feel empowered.

Sexual Revolution & Evolution

In “Sexual Revolution & Evolution,” an older woman reflects on her life and the way that her relationship has changed over the years. In the past, her sex life was complicated by young children and responsibilities. Now that her children are grown and she finally has the time, she is old, and there is Viagra on the nightstand. What struck me about this poem was the feeling of continued love and appreciation as the years went by, even though the couple’s youth has faded away, and the realization that every moment has been cherished.

I would recommend reading Lust if you are in the mood for some sensual poetry. Pour yourself a glass of wine or a cup of tea, curl up under a soft blanket, and sink into the beauty and heartache that Diana Raab’s words portray.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are the kind of poems you read cover-to-cover over a coconut latte. From the start, I envied the five hour lovemaking sessions but quickly realized if I ever HAD five hours, I’d break it up into a 12-15 minute lovemaking session, a yoga class, tea with an old friend, two read-alouds with my girls, an hour to write a poem, a long, hot shower, a 20 minute nap, then go for another quickie! But how fabulous and promising for the future of my domesticity to discover the world that Raab paints for us.

I have to say, Diana Raab reproduced for me on PAGE 1, in her very first poem, that which I find most erotic: the cracking of the egg on the head. It’s these deliberate intimacies that fuel the poems. And then there is that whish is far less subtle:


“When you take me from behind

You remind me how we were

Once both animals”

(I could point you to the rhyme of behind and remind or I could just let that take you where it will)


And yet, Lust is not all endless lovemaking sessions and swelling manhoods (though who could complain if it were?). There is also a creeping into middle age…“Our essence lies on tables/of doctor’s offices/sharing fantasies/of love gone by,” which Raab deals with deftly. Honestly, I’d have loved to see even more of this rawness taken towards the aging female body. I think that Raab could couple her eroticism with even more of these frank realizations.

Overall, I’m quite taken with the work Raab has done. While the lusty may get another reader, the tenderness and the seeing and the underneath boiling draw me in, like here, in one of my favorite moments in which she speaks of her grandmother:

“I remember/grandma telling me always/want sex because it keeps/your heart beating fast/and your essence vibrant/while on the outside/you stand counting the minutes/for the hard-boiled eggs.”

As Raab would say, oh, “this tizzy makes me dizzy.” Looking forward to more from Raab.

[Nsikan Akpan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poet Diana Raab does a great job of displaying appreciation of sexuality at any age. It seems as though the poet takes readers on her sexual journey through life. Some moments are explicit and some are just full of love and appreciation. When read from cover to cover, the poems form one big story.

Unfortunately, if you have trouble with sexual content, this isn’t for you. When reading, the poems did sometimes get me aroused and had me thinking about sex a bit more than I wanted. This could be a good and a bad thing depending on who you are.

The one thing I cannot leave out is the formatting of Raab’s poems. This may not be significant to some, but it’s great for the eyes. To see a poem in the same format over and over again can get a bit boring and can cause readers to want to put a book of poetry down before they finish. But Raab doesn’t let her readers down. Some poems have classical structured stanzas (“Phone Hugs”), some are couplets (“Lightning”), and others have their own crazy way of doing things, such as the poem “Sprawled” (pg.70-71) The poem is not only interesting because it describes the feeling of lovemaking—before and after—but because the format seems to wind down the page like a grand staircase, the words “sprawled” out, reaching the climax and the finale of the poem.

Overall, the book was a bit too explicit for my taste, but that’s the point of poetry, isn’t it?

Brava!

[Marcene · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Lust, Diana Raab celebrates the human capacity for passion, intensity and pleasure. In particular, these erotic poems explore pleasures deeply rooted in physical sensation. Much of the collection’s narrative depicts the speaker engaged in an intense sexual affair with a dynamic lover. While one may read the series of poems as a memorable account of a relationship, I see the affair as a metaphor for something larger. The lover, who is referred to as a muse, a drug, even a healer, seems to personify lust itself. I see the affair as the speaker’s personal dance with Eros. Through this dance, the speaker is enlightened. She experiences the extremities of sexual pleasure, but also, as living with lust intensifies her sensitivities and vulnerabilities, she encounters disappointment and grief. And while she revels in moments of ecstasy, she also acknowledges that those moments are fleeting. Lust may be fickle, unpredictable, and ephemeral. Clearly, if one lives with lust, he or she may encounter risks and challenges. Nevertheless, Raab’s poems suggest that a life lived with passion is worth that risk. This is a book of life-affirming poems that celebrate a personal quest for passion and joy.

[Nay Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Lust is pretty good adult poetry book. I gave this a 4 star rating. I enjoyed the idea of the book not only being based on sex, but the emotions and feelings of different sexual relations and interactions between strangers and couples. Some of the poems left me a bit stumped wondering what they meant, while others kept me intrigued and interested.

I loved how the Diana used the words to really get me interested. She didn't use basic words you'd find in a sexual poem, but rather used a lot of descriptive phrases to keep a reader hooked. This explores all types of relationships in various stages, situations and age groups. It definitely had a few that I could relate to within my own relationship.

Looking forward to reading her other books because this was a work of art for me.

[Yaritza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Won this book from GoodReads. Wow this book of poems really went deep into my soul. It brought me sadness, heat, excitement, love and surrender. Diana really can put words together that make you feel like your in the book feeling all this passions and desires. We are sexual beings who lust for love and hope that love is given back. In our society now real true love is hard to find. While reading this I was hoping to find that same passion and want for that special someone. I highly recommend you read this book. Lust is out there, just have to open your eyes and be willing to love and be loved.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a long time poetry fan since I Shel Silverstein's books I used to read them as a child and I think that is where my love of poetry came from. I love reading and writing poetry it is my biggest pleasure out of life. These are the kind of poems you read cover-to-cover without a stop in between. I do have to apologize to Diana for not reading this book as soon as I received it in the mail and then loosing it and then finding it and not immediately reading it as soon as I found it.

[Phil Mayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The feelings aroused by sex, love and loss are so rich and intense that we struggle to name their nuances. Diana Raab does a fine job of this in her collection of poems, using long associative sentences that flood forth with barely a punctuation mark, a stream of images that resonate with our own experiences. I admire her skill at describing states of ecstasy so well while scarcely naming a body part.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

*received for free through Goodreads First Reads

A collection of sensually inspired poems. It wasn't the style of poetry I like (I tend towards T.S. Elliot) but it was alright. I didn't particularly care for the sexual imagery, I felt it would have been more effective in capturing me if it used less lewd/explicit descriptions and a bit more subtle sensuality.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing poetry, very intimate without being overtly so. I found myself drawn to the speaker's voice in each poem. I found myself forgetting I was reading poems about sex and just enjoying the rich, sensual language.

I won this book through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Isreal Okeowo · Rating 4 out of 5]

superb I loved the poems I couldn't put it down for a minute till I finished all the poems I recommend it to everyone it is really good

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

~~RECEIVED FOR HONEST REVIEW~~


A set of poems that will have you steaming. Well written. If you get hot easy, tread lightly in..If you like hot and steamy jump in full force!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm never sure I understand poetry but there was a lot I liked here.