this is my rose
still
red
i
suppose
your
heart only knows
that
love comes and goes
when
i
see the light
in
your sweet smile

(After Cavafy)

Do not let your life get so far
ahead of you, busy and distracted,
that you meet it on the way back
a stranger, an alien.

Your years are long and vigorous.
They curl upon the sand
like S-shaped tidal waves, as the bay
itself seeps out of the vast, gray sea.

Tomorrow, if you meet yourself,
burdensome and strange,
you will have lost
your one chance for glory.

You will have lost your way
in a dark wood, as another poet put it.
You will have lost
the mothering protection of the sea,

whose gentle tides are always
taken away, never to return the same.

Grab my hand and come close,
press your ear to my chest,
wrap your arm around my waist
and let your body fall into mine.

Rhythmic heart beats translate to movement in my feet,
my hips ride the tempo and my soul takes the lead.
We’re tangled in a Tango for lovers.
Your pelvis flush with mine
the heat of passion begins to rise.

You spin your body away in an effort to tease,
in that moment I see what I’ve always wanted;
your fair skin dancing in the moonlight.
Elegantly exposed under the stars.

We’re in tune with our element.
Fancy footwork brings us closer,
you’re wrapped in my arms again.

Sway with me,
let the music caress your spirit.
Exhale and be free. Explode with desire.
Touch your lips to mine
and fall in love with fire.