Last Night By Sharon Olds

The poem “Last Night” by Sharon Olds is a short poem about a fear of sex without feelings. The first line says, “The next day, I am almost afraid”. The speaker is fearful of the sexual encounter from the previous night. In the next line, Olds compares “Love? It was more like dragonflies in the sun, 100 degrees at noon, the ends of their abdomens stuck together” (lines 2-4), which sounds extremely uncomfortable. She does not feel love during sex with this particular partner. In lines 12-13, the author says, “No kiss, no tenderness”, as if she is used to more intimate sex from a previous lover. Throughout the poem, the speaker is unhappy and unpleased with the sexual encounter from the previous night. Though she does not feel real love
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