-- THAT’S THE WAY OF LOVE –

John Herlihy

A beginning with no end

Willing as a tree to bend

Longing and hope to blend

A wish just around the bend

That’s the way of desire

The wanting to belong to someone

When not belonging even to myself

The wanting to know someone

When not even knowing myself

That’s the way of wanting

Finding myself in someone else

Finding someone else in me

Exploring the mystery of intimacy

Unveiling the intimacy of mystery

That’s the way of longing

Lost in the dark pool of eyes

Newly dressed, with no disguise

In the heart, a murmur and a sigh

Commitment that never dies

As expansive as the blue skies

That’s the way of sight

Secret whispers in the ear

Only sacred melodies to hear

Silence pierced by the tip of a spear

She tells things she tells no one else

Her words as fingers on my pulse

That’s the way of listening

Her aroma as wind in her hair

Her breath holds the scent of prayer

Her lilac and lavender make me aware

Her presence as a perfume rare

Lost in the flower of her care

That’s the way of smell

The lips tasting their first kiss

Entry thru the portals of bliss

In heaven nothing is amiss

One long, wondrous moment, memorable

One lasting memory, eternal

That’s the way of tasting

Her hands enfolded in mine

A caress at the edge of sublime

Tenderness loses sight of time

In the caress of a kiss entwined

That’s the way of touching

Beauty, richness, everlasting light

Escape from the dark of everlasting night

The nearness, the intimacy, the falling away

As a blushing autumn leaf held in the wind’s sway

That’s the way of falling in love

To have cared nothing about anyone

Then to have cared about someone

To have known nothing of love

Then to have known everything

That’s the way of being in love

Seeing as if never before seen

Smelling as if never before smelt

Listening as if never before heard

Tasting as if never before tasted

Touching as if never before touched

That’s the way of love

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 13 July 2022