Skin

I want in this life to not withdraw or withhold.

I want to get close to all of it. Skin on skin.

I want to know the smooth parts and the rough, the blemishes, the scars, the wrinkles, the hollow, the full.

I want to put my ear against the bare chest of life and hear the deep drum of its heart.

I want to ride the waves of its breath.

I want to know all the ways it laughs.

And all the ways it cries.

I want to know its movement and its stillness.

I want to wrap my arms around it and tell it I love it over and over again.