Heat

I.
My woodstove fire on a blustery day,
I absorb you,
allow your truth to embrace me.
Wrap around me,
a blanket,
and shield me from the harsh.

II.
River of light, power, shock—
Flash-flooded—
Overpowering the blurred ceiling above
pulls its energy straight from our bodies,
its light from our hypnotized eyes
filling our minds with white,
seaming us into each other and
weaving the dark around our bodies
until we must release,
reach with arms, lips, cries
into the heat of the dark and moist.

III.
Your pulse in my blood—
your breaths refreshing me—
you could pray with my soul
You move my arms to hold you
My mind joins yours
You fill my hungry belly
sustaining me
and quench my thirst—
You are my craving

--Barbara E. Prater, 3/00