10 Kisses

Curiosity was the force
That drew us closer,
In your darkened room.
A ray of light sneaked through the window,
To land on half of your face.
I thanked God
For allowing me to see your lowered gaze,
I could see the cracks of your dry lips,
That I was about to moisture.

Our breaths touched before we did,
Like messengers..
I don’t see that ray of light now,
But I feel you,
Your lips
For the very first time.

I am not myself anymore,
And neither are you, you.
The two people who have just kissed,
as they were,
Are gone.
Now, there is me plus your kiss,
And you plus mine.
I 2.0 and You 2.0.
A new encounter.
A new mission.

And it was not curiosity that brought us to the second kiss.
I was on an expansion mission.
You sought confirmation.
You tilted your head slightly
This one was longer.
More energy was exchanged,
second law of thermodynamics.
or an action and a reaction:
Newton’s third law
… of intimacy.

We are now closer than ever.
Not quite the same lovers,
two kisses ago.
I liked this new “You” a bit more,
And I hoped you felt the same.

Perhaps the “Me” from the last kiss
Would align even better with you.
You silenced my thoughts with your initiative:
The third encounter.
This time, you were driven by passion.
I surrendered, to receive.
New roles in our evolving dialogue:
You, the hunter.
Me, the gazelle.

I didn’t know this Me.
Neither did you.
A spark in your eye gave your secret away,
And I stored it gently
In a drawer within my hippocampus.

The fourth kiss was mutual,
Like sharing an afternoon cake
in a Parisian bakery.
A decrescendo of tempo,
Silence,
Review of the balance.

Excuse me, dear reader—
Our imaginary observer.
I must draw the curtains now,
Lay down my pen.

For the next five kisses
Took place in heaven.
where the angels have lined
at the doors of Eden,
You said they seemed familiar;
I feared they might claim you back.

I felt an urgent need—
To seal this chapter,
To mark the moment,
one last kiss,
A full stop.
a cherry on the top,
a pinch of salt by Nusret.

Who are we now, my darling?
Ten kisses later,
And a hundred possible “Us”