Their Breaths Embraced Together

 

Their Breaths Embraced Together

 

And her husband is a decent man,

you salute him, greet him when you can

in a voice that’s almost too pleased -

strong, too, those shirts deceive,

hide a well-toned and muscular physique

but right modest with it, too.

Still, she, near-innocent, comes to you

to talk music: choirs, majors, minors,

Lydian modes and yes, she looks so fine,

oftentimes her left arm will find

your shoulders, pull them closer, nearer,

whisper something velvet in your ear

that your hairs will erect themselves

independent of wish, speak and tell;

betray secret things you wish kept hidden.

Now impudent breasts force your shoulder

and, though dismissed, it returns bolder

and sings more loudly than before.

And irresistant, you will find some reason

to visit often and scent her seasoning,

follow behind and close those doors

that must be kept open for safety’s sake –

ah, she tells you something Portuguese,

a phrase of wants, of needs, of teasing

greed that tantalizes both before it leaves

and is in want of no translation.

And what it is, sings some sensation

of feather-light guilt but soft as heather

as your breaths embraced together.