In the Stillness

I kissed her in slow, soft kisses—
making sure I didn’t miss a single spot.
I kissed her closed eyelids, her nose, her cheeks, her temples,
her chin, the narrow spot above her lip.

“Kiss me more.”
Her eyes were closed,
her chin slightly lifted.

I kissed her neck below each ear.
I kissed her across the collarbone,
in a methodical line from left to right.
I followed that line in the opposite direction—
down to her breasts.

I carefully licked each nipple.
I rested my nose on the bone between her breasts,
and I breathed her into my inside.

It was all so clear to me now—
my entire life, the stupidity of it all.
It all made sense. I was brought to this moment from infinite lifetimes away, and I was going to enter through her portal— to the other I.