Body Love: For Jill

BODY LOVE
--for Jill


I want these words to speak
in the manner of a mouth
that would rather not
say anything--words mouth
so easily.
And what words can touch
the pleasure our bodies feel
lying together by the sea?
We lay down our bodies
for each other
on the beach--our bodies
that rub up to each other
and ignite
while our words go floating
on the water, too thin
to be heard
over the waves--

our bodies made of salt
that understand the sand,
that know their spark
beside the massive ocean
must go out. Mortal animals,
they soothe each other
as the tide comes in,
goes out, and
comes again.

You worry that your sagging arm-skin
makes you haggard.
I worry because I'm losing force--
our old bodies, our companions
through which we found
each other long ago, and continue
to discover new territories
in each other--

through which we travel
separately at night
though our limbs are interlocked--
hairy interlocked with smooth,
warm with cool.

Our eyes open in the morning
to each other. Our bodies, made fresh
by sleep, re-enact
that First Morning's revelation
to hands and thighs, shoulders,
bellies, and arms,
the exultation of flesh on flesh,
flesh between, around, and inside of
flesh--

our bodies that came from
the dark
and will return there
having no more important purpose
than to speak the language of
touch and taste
to one another.


Joseph Somoza