The dictionary defines
"sensualist"
as "one who indulges in the pleasures of the senses".
Clinical, methodical,
this definition does not speak
of the -force- of those senses:
does not celebrate the shiver of teeth and tongue
on sweat-salted skin;
murmurs echoing in the curve
of inner ears
many hours after
they've been whispered to
in the half-light of morning.

It does not speak of hands entwined
as though intent
on etching fingerprints into each
other's flesh,
Nor the scent of incense that clings
to hair... a small kiss of the sacred.

That dictionary,
with its trove of meanings and lists
and definitions,
can never hope to capture the essence
of these "senses"--

Nor could it ever understand
a smile
inspired by looking at a pillow,
dented and creased,
that says
"look at me.
LOOK at ME,
and remember how your lover's head
rested here."

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