The sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea—
What are all these Kissings worth,
If thou wilt kiss not me?²
Let lips do what hands do:
They Pray—lest Faith|
Become despair.³
We’re Hungry for each other’s Mouths—⁴
For just one Kiss that your lips have given
In the lost and beautiful past to me—
I’d gladly barter my hopes of heaven
And all the bliss of eternity—⁵
Leave a Kiss but in the cup—
And I’ll not look for wine!⁶
Sudden white-hot rapturous pressure
Of Lip upon Lip—Being upon Being—⁷
He bruises her body with salty spilling
Kisses of his sex: each bruise blooms with
Pleasure that fills her with hot dissolving blossoms—⁸
We Kiss—and forever wed our Unutterable
Visions to each other’s perishable breath—⁹
Only one answer Answers
Of our questions: *Kiss*¹⁰
¹ Mary Oliver, I Know Someone
² Percy Bysshe Shelley, Love’s Philosophy
³ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
⁴ Lawrence T. Giles, Last Poem
⁵ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Ad Finem
⁶ Ben Johnson, Song to Celia II
⁷ Iris Murdoch, The Black Prince
⁸ Mary Gaitskill, The Little Boy
⁹ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
¹⁰ Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, & Howard Koch, Casablanca