The First Time that We Kissed

The first time that we kissed, after
Months and months of having met,
So that I knew, no, not his type,
And being a bit shy myself,
And anyway we each had lost
Our last partner to disease
(Who’d want to go through that again?)
So I resigned this hope to loss
But he asked would I comfort him
As he was facing some distress
And taking him into my arms
I risked and kissed him on the mouth,
My head caught fire, the kind of flame
You see in Arab manuscripts
As Mohammed looks at God
And the presence of desire
Sheathes his mouth and eyes and mind
In brightness that does not consume
What it burns on, that supplies
Its own fuel from within itself.
If you’ve seen God perhaps you feel
The trope ill-chosen. Most of us
Don’t get to see such mighty visions
But just the face of who we love
And even then you need some luck.          
If I’d known what I knew after?
Flip a coin if I’d have stayed.
Tails sure would have spared me shit
But heads when they’re engulfed with flames
Recognize what gives us life
And they just don’t turn away.

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