I lived inside till I almost died

She was a Believer and Now


i loved when I did not know i loved

because, unaccustomed, i was loved . . .

a cocoon of warm air curled around us suddenly, on a winter night, swirling with the ocean sounds; there, on the boardwalk, this amazing woman laid her hands on my back and hip. we chose to believe the warm breeze that developed did so out of loving touches honored by the god of heavens and of oceans, and although i did not really believe those things, she did. She was a believer but i was earthbound, heavy, joints giving out. She sent her love into them. And though they were not healed that very night, i loved when i did not know i loved

because, unaccountably, i was loved . . .

she, loving healer. and i foundered for being loved by her, pierced and drowning,

because, undyingly, i was loved . . .

unfathomably, i was loved.