-- Ode to Intimacy –

John Herlihy

Sex has its moment and that is fine,

Approximating sheer ecstasy sublime.

All wrapped up in the touch of flesh,

Two bodies as one, an intricate mesh.

Yet, we fall all to hard down off ecstasy;

The brief moment roams short of intimacy.

The realm of pleasure certainly has flair,

Intimacy, in contrast, opens unto prayer.

Intimacy lies beyond the physical urge,

A far higher realm its demons to purge.

Sex brings us closer, then we are spent,

Ecstasy gone, not knowing what it meant.

If anything, beyond the force of the thrill,

Blinded by the moment, even a little shrill.

Like finding oneself in the middle of a riot,

Whereas true intimacy noted for its quiet.

Intimate moments can arrive unexpected,

Not just in a relationship feeling protected.

I once camped out in the desert at night,

My intimacy with stars felt weightless, light.

I recall an intimate moment with a deer;

Our two eyes locked, each bereft of fear.

Both in a realm beyond knowing, intimate,

 Such rare, unique experience, consummate.

I once journeyed into the Hindu Kush,

Sat on a mountain top next to a bush.

Ah the intimacy felt gazing at the view,

Silence quiet as sitting in a church pew.

Intimacy with nature an experience unique,

Enchanted by twilight hush, its secret mystique.

To leave all troubles behind in nature’s solitude,

To leave all doubt behind in nature’s certitude.

I state these examples a simple truth to confess,

Intimacy is much more than merely a love blessed.

Love a kind of workaholic filling hours of the day,

Love’s inner room a deeper message to convey.

Intimacy as touching, without having to touch,

Intimacy as listening, without hearing as such.

Intimacy as perfume, without having to smell,

Intimacy as tasting, experience as magic spell.

The voice of intimacy is heard as a whisper,

Exploring into unknown places as a drifter.

A word, we are not even sure what it means,

When we enter its sanctuary, the heart gleams.

A sense of closeness that knows of no regret,

 A privacy of self shared you will never forget.

Most of the time, we are just one of a crowd,

Shared intimacy lets rare expansion allowed.

Limits broken down thru loss of boundaries,

Awaken into dreams that hold no memories.

At last, to finally see, as if seeing the unseen,

Liberated into a trust of all that we mean.

Then the final intimacy, right there with God,

Light upon light as the flash of a lightning rod.

At last, intimate love with the one true Friend,

Eternal love of the Beloved that will never end.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Sunday 5 September 2021