Shared breath
Lips part,
brushing yours,
I inhale you,
warm,
wanting your vitality.
Lungs fill,
sharing breath,
loading red blood cells
to carry you
coursing through my heart,
along vessel roads,
caressing form’s curves,
feeding.
In your absence
I survive.
It’s the mineral of you,
infused cellular to cerebral,
that wards off withering.
When lips brush,
rarely,
I breathe you;
a visceral voyage,
swirling,
settling throughout me
to sustain.
Hull against water
Fire light flashed across floorboards,
like moonbeams over waves.
I stood where it caressed the shore.
With an invitation,
I placed my hull upon your water.
A buoyant force pressed against me
as I immersed myself in you.
We rocked.
Your waves lapped against me:
a reinforced resistance,
a caressing cadence,
a soothing submission.
Drifting slowly from the world,
destination uncharted,
a keel of trust upheld me
on this maiden voyage.
Cigars and Embers
Swirling cigar smoke
circled our heads
in a sweet, seductive dance.
Searing logs snapped,
casting embers and frolicking flames.
Their staccato notes in the night
blended with our breathing and words of want.
Teasing touch in tandem,
our tingling lips locked,
tasting,
with an erect oral encore.
Biography
Tracy Ahrens lives in Illinois and has been a journalist/writer for over 30 years. She has published eight books, including two non-fiction works, four children’s books and two books of poetry. As of 2023 she had earned 105 writing awards. See her website at www.tracyahrens.weebly.com.