the call of aphrodite

birthed from the foam of the sea,
I rise.

birthed from the hearts of the immortal, the ruthless,
the lovers, the unknown,
I rise.

I am beauty. I am love. I am sex.
for what is life without these?

what is life without the allure and the delight
of the flowers, the wind, the trees, the ocean?
the world astounds us, devours us,
invites and delights in the revealing of its glory.
and yet,
beauty is not confined to nature.
it’s found in the smallest of moments,
the tiniest and most unexpected
corners of life.

beauty is power,
for it can,
in one single moment,
both steal our breath
while breathing its own life into our very soul.
beauty is a promise of something more.
an invitation to stretch our knowledge of what
we know to be true.

what is life without the longing to know,
and be known?
what is life without the longing for another
to not want to stop
at knowing;
to yearn, to lust, to desire?

what is life without the burning passion of eros,
that leads to the steady warmth of pragma,
the love of endurance and companionship.
what is life without the linked arms of philia,
the kindness, the encouragement of a friend on a lonely day?
what is life without the love that leaves your heart
walking outside your body,
the love you have for a child that is soul-consuming,
maddening in a way only the love of a child can be,
the love that requires sacrifice,
the storge.
and what is life without the radical, the selfless,
the agape,
the love that is unconditional and undying?

what is life without sex,
the hot, sticky tangle of limbs,
the secret caress of a lover soon-to-be,
the tender kiss of new sweetheart,
the flush of a body unexplored,
the soft hills and valleys of a warm being,
inviting you to play.
the immovable made moveable,
from only the promise of sex.
the wars started over a desire,
the intensity, the might, the vigor, the potency…
so compelling, so mysterious,
the human heart desires it
and cannot help but fear it
with the very same heartbeat.

and yet sex is not changeless,
it is not only the bodies intertwined,
the slick wet of desire,
the hard pulse of arousal.
experiencing only physical pleasure.
with every encounter,
sex places a tiny little seed…
will that seed sprout to love?
what of beauty?

sex is life itself,
it is the seed that brings forth a soul.

beauty. love. sex.
they are not static,
they do not remain the same.
they meet you where you are.
they grow you where you become,
they sustain you where you be.

beauty. love. sex.
they are me.

and I give them to you,
freely. gladly. willingly.

with a smile,
I give you a smile…
but from which of these
will you smile be?

will it be the soft smile of
unfathomable beauty?
will it be the wide smile of
encountering love?
will it be the seductive smile of
a fire that quickens inside of you,
hot with desire?

you can have all three.

they are yours to have…
if only you will ask.
they are yours to have…
if only you will receive.

choose to receive.
choose to see.

the human heart is fickle,
you see.
you blame me.
when beauty fades away,
when loves leaves,
when sex grows cold,

you blame me.

because now you cannot live without
the three.

for when the love, beauty, and sex begin
to change and morph,
inevitably,
you must embrace the different faces
and facets
they bring.

the desire that set you free,
the love that created an altered existence,
the sex that birthed an entirely new paradigm…

that infinite desire.
now traps you,
quite covertly.

that infinite desire, that infinite longing.
so infinitely out of reach.

and yet.

and yet, I still offer.
freely,
still, I am here, but still…
you must choose to see.

the men of the Church, unholy they call me.
unholy, unholy, unholy.

I am not unholy.
I am everything that creates holy.

what is holy without beauty
without love
without the very act of
creating life itself.

the human heart,
unholy, broken, fickle, untrue,
the human heart,
robbed of its ability to see…
robbed of it’s artistry, its devotion, its passion
begins to shrivel and die.

doom of men?

no, I say.

for I am here.
I always have been,
I always will be,
should you choose to see.