unnamed desire

In a whisper,
I asked,
Who were you
Before you took to the skies?
And she said,
Will I tell you my own story?
It is a tale of a kiss.

So when one spring in spite of all this good advice I fell in love, it felt like disaster. I took a tiny bite, and it exploded in my stomach. Love splashed through every cranny, hauled on every muscle, unlocked every joint. I was so full of astonishment. I felt ten feet tall. My shoulders itched as if wings might break through.

Little one, your skin is so soft, said the man as he stroked my cheek with one huge thumb.

I always started quivering as soon as I heard his knock at the door; when I opened it and curtsied, my knees dipped like a frog's; his first smile set me a-stutter. His eyes, cloudy under billows of black hair, were the only weak thing about him. He could always recognize me by the sound of my breathing.

"But I can see by your face that you're sick for him. If he was ugly as Lucifer you'd still see the sun shining out of his breeches and the stars in the leavings on his late. No matter how greedy he may be you'll think everything belongs to him by right. No matter how stupid he is you'll think he converses like an angel. Am I right?"

I have to have him, I told her coldly.

Good, good, she said, a girl who knows what she wants. Tell me now, how big a job will this be? Does the man like you, at least?

I flushed a little. I think so.

She peered closer. I've got a ring on my finger that tells me if it hears a lie.



- Kissing the Witch.