By Karla Linn Merrifield
His was the beastliest
of kisses,
delivered by a mustang stallion
on velutinous lips,
kiss from Equus ferus caballus
to the most fearsome female
of all:
Homo sapiens sapiens—
in answer
to her first command.
He’d nudged me as if to say
awaken.
With eyes yet closed in dreams
to morning,
I asked for a favor:
Kiss me.
And he obeyed.
But it was I who was
tamed.
I was tamed.
I have been tamed.
He, you, tamed me.
I became his, your creature.
The softest kiss; it was: velvet. for Craig Hordlow