loves calls us free

i would love you and your beard would grow thick
and dark like the ashes we've had to sweep out
from the old corners and soiled edges of abandoned floor boards.
rooms locked shut and we dare not venture in.
your kiss would atone for the others, the stolen, the ravaged.
your kiss would be gentle and cautious. trembling with contained passion.
flittering eyes wash and heal like bathesda.
you would lower me in and lift me out.
new hands, new spine, new heart, new life.
love's been a long time coming-
ripe with anticipation, fears and waiting
for freedom to break us free.
we would beg. it can't be like the last time,
it won't be like the last time.
we would uncover and undo dried bandages
and opaque veils. chains from the last time.
with one hand you would pull and with the
other you would spin and i would unravel
and undress like a mummy.
not decomposing only resurrecting.
i would look at you naked only this time pure for the first time.
my kisses would pull at inhibitions, unleash new yous
better than the old yous. you would laugh in cymbals
and chains crashing on the floor.
dust that we missed would be shaken and swirl around
our ankles. and we would run naked and free
until we reached bethesda.
and you would lower in me and lift out of me
new hands, new spine, new heart, new life.