3. The Woman who Felt

 

She lived through sensations.

Through signs, tremors, the subtle tightening of the body
when truth passes nearby.

 

His quietness settled her.
His sorrow stirred her awake.

 

In his presence she returned
 

not the performing woman,
not the pleasing, not the responsible

but the soft animal of her body,
resting in gentle light.

 

She did not want his life.
 

She did not want his future.

 

She wanted moments of truth -
those brief, steady pockets of existence
where she could simply be.

 

The intensity that rose in her frightened him.
 

It unsettled her too.