Breathing as One

[dedicated to John, August-September, 2010

"That which dreams in you /Dreams in me." Anonymous. An unknown friend left that with a few other lines in a college notebook many years ago. Someone told me it was a loose translation of a line from Pablo Neruda's Sonnet LXXXI :"Already you are mine. Rest with your dream inside my dream." Ya eras mia. Reposa con tu sueno en mi sueno."]

That which breathes in you,

Breathes in me.

For every exhale as you doze

I inhale the images from your fantasy,

And I hear the music from your trance

Echo in my dark sleep

Where we dance to that melody and share

Our song of love.

You see we are joined at the heart,

As mystics have long believed:

A soul has two halves --

Male and female in equal parts --

As they imagined God to be.

Then at birth the soul splits

Only to be reunited if once grown

That pair finds each other

In the world and weds.

So we share a common space;

We commune in one spirit.

For every kiss there are two halves

Just as there are two sets of lips

And on each side the nerves

Of touch excite both skins;

The nerves of hunger

Delve into this feast,

As we feed each other

Mouthfuls of sweet liquid and tongues.

The nerves of sound

Resound with our moans,

Our cries of joy.

And later after the heavenly soaring

We nestle into each other,

Purring with deep snores

That seep into this bicameral soul.

"And that which dreams in you

Dreams in me."

written August-September, 2010