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MY LOVER'S  HANDS

Noticing my lover's features
when we first met...
I was eventually drawn to
His hands...
As they held mine, in a shy
tender, but firm
Embrace...

And I thought....
They were the most beautiful
Hands....
I have ever seen...
Not, because they belonged to
My lover....
But...
Because they were the hands of
And Artist......
True to their
Purpose....

Naked for all the world
to see...
Having to
Atone.........
to No One....
For their beauty.....
their grace....
Their Promise....
That only a
few chosen....
Have Experienced.....

They reach out....
And keep reaching out
Across the lonely years....
Seeking Contact
Comfort....
Love.....
Seeking someone to entwine
in their smooth cool
embrace....
Someone to hold
onto
if...
not but....
for a season.

Navita Gunter (c) ngunter@mail.state.tn.us

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SITTING AT MY FEET 

Sitting at my feet you whispered in my ear
There is something that I feel
I must say and something I must hear.
You looked into my eyes, 
Your soul was so near.
You whispered in my ear 
"You are my angel...
You are my walking dream... 
I love you... dear!
Please share your heart with me... 
Please share your joy, 
Please share your tears...
And I will hold your hand, 
I'll protect you from fears
With all that I am, 
With all that I have,
Because I love you... Because in you...
Because I've met me in you... "

And I hear me saying to you 
"My darling, I love you...
Because in you... I've met me too!"
I touched your face with my hand
You touched my soul with your eyes
And everything else disappeared...

FireXFlesh (c) FireXFlesh@aol.com

****************************************************************

IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR

i feel a chill wind
blowing thru my
blankets
cuz
since you left the folds of
my physical stronghold
nothing keeps my body warm
enuff...

in the midnight hour,
i toss and turn
and yes
i burn
with that internal
fire this is
white hot

my deepest~wildest
luv desire

where is he
who proved to be
all i needed

to cover me

in the midnight hour?

Bridgette Alyce (c) afreekan@hotmail.com

****************************************************************

       LONELY ECHO

All that we could have been,
All that we were-
I cry a river for you, still.
I see you-
In the slope of a neck,
the tone of a smile,
In the length of a stride,
You are
In the heart of a melody
curving with emotion.
In this teardrop caressing my cheek,
And in that stillness before sunrise,
I feel you
beside me still, and again
I hear you
In the raindrops,
And in my heartbeat,
And in the echoes of my loneliness,
Longings for whispers of forever.
You dream of me,
for I come to you at night
where memories join and mingle,
with hopes of a rekindling,
a re-tasting, a reconnecting
of what was, and what is still,
A tender love.
And, Oh, how you loved me.
And, Oh, how you are loved, still.

Jacqueline McKay (c) Toine864@aol.com

****************************************************************

THE WORLD HAS LET YOU DOWN

As a child you looked for love
And your search was met with confusion,
caught in a love/not-love triangle.
Your heart was strangled in the fear that
love/not-love would rule.
Your company was contrived.
Figments were easier to live with;
they always showed you love.
Nurturing hands struggled to survive
through lying lips.
The world had let you down.

A manchild grows in the heart of the city
Striving to make a life
To give life to the talents that are you
But the past struggles to hold you there.
Now your love/not-love of self prevails
Opportunities thwarted before fruition
Education rejected by the office of admission
The world had let you down.

Then baby and you and me make three
Terror reigns in the heart of this man
Tears rain on the pillowcase that catches
two sleeping heads.
What will you do?
How can you love/ not-love yourself
yet love and only love the two that
slumber as you turn?
How can you trust in something as fragile as love
When the world has let you down.

You don’t.
You challenge love as truth
reject love as trust
create love as manipulation
conjure love as control
demonstrate love as confusion.
You bring love/ not-love to a
woman and child
who need love and only love
to grow in spirit and in truth.

Under constant pressure
the threesome torn asunder,
you go on searching for a love
too old to find.
Never allowing it to flow,
placing a strangle hold on what
should have been given freely.
You squeezed the breath out of love,
then berated love for dying.
Bludgeoned the sense out of love,
then belittled love for seeking shelter
from the turmoil of your inner storm.
It’s hard to flourish
Difficult to grow
Impossible to love
Until you have grieved
Because the world has let you down.

Ajani Kush (c) passage2000@hotmail.com

****************************************************************

OUR ONLY HOPE...

As we dance upon petals of fiery brilliance -

Our bodies speak with an elusive, eloquence-

An ancient tongue - long forgot -

Delicate-yet-deafening.

Cascading like a mountain stream off the edge of our World....

A summer’s rain begins to fall -

Saturating gauzy threads against the smooth contours of our skin -

Whispers flow off of our lips like a hot wind across a Desert...

Light slides down in shattered fragments -

Painting our skin with bronze decor.

Visions fall from our fingertips...

Stars, like promises - float from our eyes...

Our bodies touch.

Immortality - Our only hope...


Eddie Allen (c) chasingtigger@yahoo.com

****************************************************************

UNCONDITIONAL

I want to hold
you in my arms 
and rid your mind
of the problems
in this world.
Hold out your hand
and seek refuge 
in my eyes as
the warmth
caresses your soul.
Listen to the wind
deep inside -- They 
speak of an exotic
island called
Unconditional Love
where our hearts rest
surrounded by ice blue
oceans of passion and
blossoming trees that 
release scents of love.
Unfold your fantasies and
let your dreams
come true.
Click with me like 
that missing
puzzle piece and
allow our bodies
to explore the
Unconditional Seas.

Keep your heart free from hate,
your mind free of worry,
live simply....expect little....
give much...


Bridget Narcisse (c) qwyetst0rm@aol.com