Candle light flickers send soft shadows
To dance amongst the memories of you.
        In quiet solitude I sit, with quill in hand,
              senses caressed by reflective visions
              swirling behind closed lids.
                    I inhale the aroma of rich, oily wax
                    -- tickling my throat, filling my lungs --
                    breathing in the fragrance of our love.

Time...no longer my adversary...
Takes me back to a place,
        moments not long passed,
Where you asked...no...pleaded...
        to forever share your life,
        to join you in a formal union of heart and soul.

The evening was high...
        Pinpoint stars, peering curiously
        through the skylight window...
As we lay together amongst slippery bubbles
        of warm, musk scented clouds.
Like the stars above,
        Tiny flames twinkled in a circle of mirrors,
            casting illusionary, endless images of forever
            reflected by hanging crystals
            into looking glass walls.

Slowly and deliberately we began to bathe,
        purifying ourselves for each other,
   Cleansing away the ash of misbegotten fires
   and soiled, sloven memories...
Rinsing away ruinous sidements of mistrust
    and shattered hope...

With a well-lathered, feather-light sponge
we took turns dancing in tempid waters,
     Cleansing each other
      with smooth and somber passage,
           Bringing tender, graceful touches
           to every inch of flesh...

...soaping and rinsing...
...rinsing and nibbling...

at heated bodies, sparkling with a fevered,
yet gentle glow.

Our skin...appearing as dewy petals
in a soft spring shower...
    candles masquerading as tiny suns
       giving a warm light to flesh
    the teasing touch of water droplets,
       like warm raindrops,
          sliding across our bodies
          as they responded to the heavier
          but no less tender touch
          of each other's hands.
Hands wanting nothing more than to awaken
and convey total, consuming love.

Mirrors became misty from the water's warmth
    and the passionate energy
    of its enraptured bathers.
       Reflecting back, in our candlelit eyes,
       veiled images of ourselves...
An image blurred,
appearing more of one body than of two.

I pulled close to you,
    my legs wrapped about your waist
    feeling the heat from your body
    merging with my own
    and settling inside the tender aspects
    of my thighs.

Unspoken thoughts of one mind are shared
Through the mirrors of the soul
    Knowing now we are ready, we are cleansed,
    and exclusively deserving of each other.
No longer two separate elements
    or members of love,
    but one conjoined and synchronized
    bodily miracle of God...

(Please marry me...)

Moisture now from inside the soul
Seeps gently against its windows
    Glowing from behind the eyes,
    dancing softly on tips of eyelashes,

We hold tight...

(Of course I will)

...I remember the words,
whispered dreams of that night,
    A renewal of essence and innocence.
    A beginning of bonded, eternal love.
    A dance so beautiful, no quill can capture
    my own laying limp in my trembling hand

How of this will I ever write?

By: Sharon Angleman
(primary author)
&
Alan W. Goodson
(minor editing)

©1999