I remember the first time you touched me.
my mind …
my heart …
my body …
my mind was like a landscape that you explored with deliberate, tender steps
seeking to behold another soul, waiting to know if I were the one or should you move on.
my heart was like a garden, on which you sowed seeds of your vulnerable, truthful self – transparent and transcendent
breaking open to let the slender, fragile shoots of your beautiful soul
blossom into a fiery, enduring love that rages beyond finite time and space.
my body was like a canvas lavished by the brush strokes of your deep desire
to know me – the vibrant colors and rich textures of sweet communion with your beloved.
All these touchings are now just memories I cherish
and longing for them to come alive again
in my dreams
in my striving
to keep you ever present
with me,
long after I finally decide to scatter your ashes over the ocean that once separated us, but now
has become an ever flowing reminder
that our love goes on and on …
– Carla A. Romarate-Knipel
7.19.23
(copyright 2023)
Choose Joy: Poems, Prayers and Prose 