Carnal Kissing

Kissing. The act of kissing. The art of kissing. This simple, arousing, sometimes messy act of intimacy is my most favorite connection to another person. Unlike the baby cheek kisses from my parents, pressing my lips to someone else stirs deep, unexpected emotion. My relationship with this person is suddenly transformed. We have crossed into a space I’ve only allowed certain people to live.

We choose who we kiss, for the most part. I have definitely experienced being caught off guard by a kiss. My head turned, and I was shocked by what was coming at me. An anxious first date trying their hand. A colleague hoping to exit the friend zone.

I’m often perplexed by people who don’t enjoy kissing. I assume they either experienced some trauma where kissing is a reminder of the dark side of intimacy — or they never learned the art of it. Never brushed up on the brush strokes and fell perfectly onto someone’s lips. I feel sad for the anti-kissers and the amateurs who only use it as a stepping stone to the big show. A great kiss is delightful. A smile still creeps across my middle-aged face when my thoughts linger on my greatest kisses. Passionate. Stretching far beyond intention.

My first kiss was in a hotel room in London. A boy from school told several of our classmates he had a growing crush on me. My kissing experience was non-existent at thirteen. I was the oddball in my crew. At lunch, I’d listen to the surprising details of make-out sessions and first sex experiences. I couldn’t wrap my head around any of it. I actually thought the concept of kissing was gross. I saw people doing it in movies, but assumed some sort of movie magic eliminated the presence of spit. The swapping of spit with another person was foremost on my mind, and I was disgusted by it. But, listening to my friends, I felt left out, behind.

Europe was exciting. I thought the trip would mature me into a globetrotter, privileged to see people and places I had only read about in textbooks. Three countries in ten days. I had no idea that on our first stop, I’d be changing my life, becoming someone I wasn’t when I stepped on the plane to cross the pond.

Our friends set it up. I was to meet him in his room, late, well after our chaperones were asleep. We sat on the edge of the bed, in darkness, unsure of ourselves or how to proceed. I…

Related posts:

Sword fight is an act in which actors use their bare hands and feet or weapons during fighting scenes in plays, movies, and TV dramas. The historical development of killing techniques can be divided…

A report released by the National LGBT Health Education Center focuses on the reasons that members of this community are at higher risk and ways to address this major disparity. It notes that this…

The President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has made a proposal to the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The President of Somalia wants the Qatari government to be the sponsor of a truce…