Kanji Engraved on My Heart

(copyright 1998, Kathleen Pilchowski.  All rights reserved)

Hold the lily against my thigh
Shake cherry blossons into my hair
Kiss the pale peach silk slip
Touch my lips, flushed or stained-

I will raise my arms with sunset
My eyes will close with dusk and dark
I will taste with breath the silence
We will fall, fumble, and be transformed.

Then after, you will give me a lotus
And we will count the petals together
In them we will find our history, all history
Which you will write with fire on my heart.