That starting touch
Sent shivers of tantalizing panic
Through my side of the deal
To keep quiet
So I could go on,
Unnoticed and unhurt.
It drew a line of blushing heat
From shoulders to fingertips,
Telling me it’s okay.
We’re okay.
But I’m not. I haven’t been.
Yet your palm on my chest,
Calmed the pulsing resistance
To the now being all that there is.
I should – 
No. 
Keep my jaws locked,
Throat taut,
Straining to rein in
What was left of a voice
I’d willingly let wither.
A different hand reached out
Followed by another,
Caresses begging me to remember
I’m not alone.
And I sank down with arched back,
Giving in to the love
I thought impossible
Given the self-inflicted flinches
Rent from strangers’ gazes
I’d painted with what had to be disdain.
We’re caught up in the moment now - 
In the movement of how we bend
And gasp against the twisted sheets;
Of how we wrap our arms around
What we’ve longed to discover;
Of how we make each other sparkle
In the absence of rhyme or reason;
Of how we feel today
So we have another chance of a tomorrow
For you,
For me,
For us.
I found it –
My song
Is right here,
Right now,
With you.
Nothing is as true as this.
I sing out loud,
Hips pressing into the glissade
Of bliss that my voice still exists,
Unhindered and unafraid
To say
I love you.