Almost forty years have passed since that fateful day
When in a moment of anguish our affair died,
Discovered in the tender bliss of recent sex,
Nakedly entwined in each other’s loving arms.
We had grown careless under the beguiling spell
Of overwhelming desire, blinded by passion,
And reaped the just harvest of our duplicity.
For several weeks I thought my life was threatened
And I cannot imagine the daily horror
Of your domestic life, but somehow over time
You blunted the keen edge of his murderous rage
And my life reverted to a semblance of calm
As I began to rebuild my broken marriage.
 

My feelings of emotional devastation
Lasted for much longer and like a lonely child
I felt shut out from all the warmth and light of love
Standing in the rain and peering through misted panes
At happy people unaware of my distress.
Distant memories are the only legacy
Of our brief and tender autumnal love affair,
But these fleeting visions are sometimes so intense
That it seems that only a few seconds have passed
Since we were caressing each other’s naked flesh
Caught up in the intensity of hot desire,
Exchanging passionate kisses, tongues entwining
As you drew me deep into your inner treasure
Enveloping me in the exquisite softness
And delicious warmth of your freely given love.
 

Wherever you may be, I hope there may be times
When you recall the shared pleasure of our loving
And the forbidden joy of mutual rapture;
The almost childlike way we explored with wonder
Every inch of each other’s intoxicated flesh
As we worshipped with boldly tender caresses
Those secret places where such sweet delight resides,
And live again the sharp sweetness of our union,
Mounting to the enchanted heavenly summits
Where our minds and bodies wondrously became one
Transcending mere mortality in carnal bliss.
Although our union was so brutally sundered
And would have attracted the harsh opprobrium
Of a conventionally moral society,
For those enchanted months we shared a miracle
Where carnal love became the route to paradise.