Today in the Market Place

Today in the market place, I will love you in the lemons

and caress you in the smooth-skinned apple.

I will laugh at the ripples in your kale body

and kiss your sweet strawberry lips.

I will savor every kind of seed you bear

and lick the pomegranate juice dripping

from my finger tips with sensuous delight.

I will touch you in the firm young carrot

and toss you playfully in piles of spinach leaves.

I will smell you in the fragrant bins of spices

and take the lids off shampoos to find your scent.

I will look at your eyes in new potatoes

and hold the slender stalks of green celery

with their leafy tops up to the light,

admiring each mist-drop still glistening there.

Today in the market place, I will love you

as I push the cart and sometimes jump on

to catch a ride between the oranges and the onions.

I will suck the sweetness from your fruit

and marvel at the intricacies of your green

and purple, red and yellow forms.

I will feel your shiny grains of rice,

and linger where you bake your bread.

I will smell you, touch you, drink you, taste you,

kiss you and consume you until you have become

a part of me; and when I see you in a human face,

my heart will feel delight, my eyes will smile their joy,

and I will receive you without one hesitation,

for nothing can interrupt our lovemaking.

Today I will meet my Beloved in the market place.

© Dorothy Hunt, from Only This!