Cherish

If someone offers you
their body to love,
only cherish it.
Treat it with as much
passion and care
and tenderness
as you would have them
treat your own.

If someone shows you their scars
and offers you such vulnerability,
only ever touch them healingly:
We are all wounded
somewhere, somehow,
holding within this gentle flesh
signs of the body’s struggles.

If someone offers you their body to love,
they are giving you such a gift.
Cherish it with your life.

Rosie Miles


- Taken from Courage to Love: Liturgies for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community, edited by Geoffrey Duncan (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2002).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Charis
Grounded Angel
And Love is Lord of All
The Many Manifestations of God’s Loving Embrace
The Non-Negotiables of Human Sex
The Wisdom of the Body
Love is Love
Song of Songs: The Bible’s Gay Love Poem
Dew[y]-Kissed
The Road to Love
Alexander’s Great Love
Mmm, that Sweet Surrender