I greet you as you would me
and kiss you as I would the other.
It’s how I distinguish
love from lust, what lasts
from what rises and falls,
forms and crumbles,
lives, then withers, and dies.
I hale you as you would
the almighty reach of sky:
expanse, curved, keeps us
on the ground lest we float away.
It’s how I declare
my love for you, its reach
exceeds horizons, and wraps around
like garland, silver on a gift.
I tuck you in as you would a child,
nestled in down, deep in warmth.
That’s how I assure
you are safe and forever within reach,
your cheek, your lips,
your essential being inside me.
© Chagall, 2013
