We kissed:
lips groping without knowing,
hands benign and trembling,
timid and still.
You were a gift I did not understand.
I had no way to accept the
strange dichotomy of peace and fire.
When I moved away to California
the ocean became my lover and
sand buttressed my heart;
I began to understand.

(upper left car: tadtop.com; upper right: v8buick.com; shot of Salt Creek at Dana Point: lodging4vacations.com)