Linda Marie Van Tassell (Lynchburg, Virginia)

I taste happiness on your lips, hear laughter in your sighs.
I see the heavens in your smile and sunlight in your eyes.
I feel a yearning in your touch and hunger in your kiss,
and nothing matters more to me than sharing all of this.

I could live an eternity and never ask for more;
for, all the things you've given me, I've never held before.
The passion that rises from your heart shines a light to me.
It's like a candle in the night or moonlight over sea.

You've transformed all the world I know, and all things are made new.
Persephone rises again with springtime's morning dew.
The smell of apples on the wind, the scent of fresh-cut grass;
and raindrops glisten on the lawn like flecks of broken glass.

I drink my thirst from your lips; and I live and yet I die,
my petals blowing in the wind like wings across the sky.
With graceful hands I touch you, and I want to eat your skin.
I want to know the heart of you that's hidden deep within.

The soft steps of the morning walk into the foaming waves,
and cloud-like veils are lifted over still and lonely graves.
The branches spread their palms on the body of sultry air,
and the subtle winds of promise whisper everywhere.

It's the moment that we treasure, a dropp of rain that flows.
It's the full-blown flame of pleasure that rises in the rose;
and who would trade this moment or bid past times reappear?
You consume my mouth in yours, and I'm thankful to be here.