Hold me while I pretend I am
above it all and do not need
intimacy a caress, the warmth
of a body to heal, the cracked skin
of my independency a shield,
defending the fragile creature
now conceding, to let its guard
down just for tonight, to indulge
in breathing, your scent emotional
rescue of what is left, in me
of normality. Drops of inebriating
salted water exciting, my humanity.
Don’t ask of me else, hold me just
a minute more, oblige me to feel
that tantalising heat invade my being,
delirious fever penetrate from within.
Cover me in tremors, confuse
my rationality in the mist of your exhale,
drive me senseless, hold me back if I
instinctively pull away. Conquer me only
ten seconds still.
[Featured sculpture: The Rape of Proserpina by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1622]