Adrienne Novy

on praising the body electric

i climb onto my partner’s bed for the first time,
& feel like a fawn familiarizing herself with the sensation
of having legs.

associating sex with hunger or the loss of innocence is trying to ask
my body to express a new language without the anxiety of wobbling.

i say yes & tell my partner they can take my bra off if they want to.
they do & my body sheds its unforgiving silver.

each word describing desire fits clumsily in my mouth,
like touch or here or hands or light.

i have never felt warm against another body in this way before. i ask
them if it’s okay if we just lay here instead.

my partner smiles. i don’t want to do anything that you don’t
want to or don’t feel ready for.

i say thank you instead of i’m sorry & that, in itself, is the reteaching of a lexicon.
what a gift it is to be held. what a gift it is to be soft.