My Wife's Body

I love my wife's body,
for her body is my wife,
and my wife lives in her body.
Her body is dear,
known to me as I know her.
I cannot untangle
my wife from her body,
or know where one starts
and the other ends.
Dear wife,come to me,
let me embrace you,
let me hold you in my arms,
all of you.

Can I love my wife
more purely,
discarding her body?
Can I love
her airy self alone?
Can I distill
her darling person
from the base metal
of her body,
catch and contemplate
her being,
commune drunkenly
with her name alone,
without falling
to kissing
her arms, her lips,
her neck?

Help me from myself!
I know no other way.
This is the dance
I was born inside.
If I leave this dance
I leave this life.
This is the dance of love.