In Defense of the Cold Ones

[cotidiano]

Ruthless, mindless appetites
Feasting on sensual flesh,
Wet and hard the blood and bone
These animals lick and suck with longing. -- This is a violent stanza. The imagery works well and it sets the mood for the rest of the poem.

What a stark contrast the Cold Ones are,
Those who refuse the fruit of carnal knowledge,
Defying our noble Garden birth,
Denying our indelible double helixes. -- I get what you're trying to say here, but I think you can make the contrast stronger and more powerful. For example, a line like "Defying the gravity of carnal attraction" makes the refusal feel stronger. Unless of course this sort of flippant and casual feel is what you're going for. Word choice is the name of the game here. The last 2 lines especially. 'Noble' is not the word I'd use, but it works. Hope you get what I'm getting at here.

They are trapped where hungry lions roam. -- Imagery is kind of weak here. Instead of just saying 'they are trapped' try to reword it so it's more powerful.

This is our world without hunger:
There are no famines for those who never eat.
Tasting lips yield no flavor;
Delicious games produce no favors. -- The weakest stanza in the poem. The last 2 lines are fine, but the first 2 doesn't portray the idea of lack of hunger well. I'd suggest trying to include the concept of time and 'immortality' to give the stanza a bit more impact.

They sleep in self-inflicted starvation, -- A rephrasing here makes the line better in my opinion. For example, "The sleep starving, by choice". Of course it works as it stands, so maybe it's just me.
Fingering one another with only sweet, candied strokes, -- I feel that this line is too long. I think 'one another' and 'only' can be removed. You can also opt for a reword for the whole line.
Content with inner ecstasy,
Living without gluttony. -- Nice closing lines. End the poem well.

Overall I like the poem. Nice imageries, but I feel that the message can be a bit abstract, and the contrast can be stronger. Hope I'm of help. =)

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! As I told the previous commenter, I changed "ruthless" to "shameless" because it better demonstrates my meaning; however, I'm worried that it might have a less forceful impact.

The fruit of carnal knowledge line refers to the fruit of knowledge in the Garden of Eden (which is referred to in the next line). I hope that makes sense.

I agree that "noble" does not fit very well. I changed it to "loving" for now, but I'm still not sure about that one. I really want to keep the middle one-line stanza, so I'll have to do a lot of construction on that line.

Hmmm...it seems that readers think this poem is about vampires, which makes a lot of sense considering what the term "Cold Ones" implies. Unfortunately, that's not my intended meaning (as the Cold Ones are supposed to be almost the opposite of vampires) so perhaps I'll have to change that phrasing. >_<

I suppose my poem is supposed to be somewhat like a riddle...I don't want to give away the meaning yet because I want to see how readers interpret it without explanation. I will say that the Cold Ones refer to "cold-blooded" and the "animals/lions" in the poem are "hot-blooded." I definitely need to find a way to make this more clear...Suggestions are very much welcomed.