OTHER

OTHER

 

a last taste of sweetness
from of one who isn't the other
and an offer to what is man
from the other

and only then imbibing the burning sweetness
of a gentle cloth that sifts a fragrance
magically surrounding like music
or a fog over water

scent of that kiss fills with a fragrance
like flowers in a spring breeze
unavoidable in a blatant reality
that is woman

in that fire the one
can be god or beast
or a drunken fool
but never again the same
shrouded by the other's mist

the rib came from Adam
but the bone was Eve
who fleshed out a living love
giving purpose to life

while the woman's gift
was more than knowledge
a man it was who brought murder
her love became the goal

the woman's life
the woman's love
the woman's gift
the woman's trust

bearing no sword
bearing no judgment
offering no knowledge
bearing a gentle voice

and with only a sip
of the sweet taste
a scent of the other
like flowering spring

a lasting taste of sweetness
an offer of what is man
out from mist to reality
never to be the same

from the one who is not one
in-spite of a man murder
the one avoids condemnation
magically surrounded by the music

listening to music in the fog
lit in fragrance like a sip
of a mist
bearing the gentle voice of the other


A. Mendoza, 2017