Velvet Skies

Back in the days when dusks and dawns marked increments of time
And cares slipped with the sun
We bore ritual to the little pock-marked sink,
Drowning ourselves in its portal of night.

Then, there were velvety skies
Beneath which our sacred immersion took place
And we accepted the other in Baptism,
Washing our faces in the same clunky tap-stream;

As water swirled hypnotically
Stray strands of knotted hair kissed your tilted neck;
And soon, in the eyes of the mirror and me, your shirt, or blouse, or leotard
Removed itself with the faintest jig of your hips,

Shuffling its way over you like a shedding of day –
A final sheath – and all worldly concerns of you and me
Disrobed themselves ceremonially
As your fingers uncoiled heavenwards,

And the material caught the carpet, and your eyes caught mine.
Lights doused, and a figure drawn out of dark
Encroached on me with the offering of warmth,
And the jolt of the current rendered me hers.