For an hour, or two or three

 

I open the door and welcome you into my space

 

candles light the room in a soft golden glow

incense draws little smoky circles through the air

peaceful music and distant nature sounds fill the room gently

 

everything is prepared carefully

down to the smallest detail

 

and as I light each candle

and place the towels softly on the bed

I pause for a moment to look around me

 

I smile

 

there is warmth inside me and butterflies too

even after all this time they still arrive

the same nervous sweetness you might feel before a first date

when something inside your body begins quietly waking up

 

some of my guests I have met many times before

others step into my world for the very first time

still the butterflies are there

 

and I love how for an hour or two or three

I fall in love a little bit

with the person sitting in front of me

with their trust, their openness

their visible and invisible layers slowly falling away

 

I watch somebody arrive into themselves

through breath, through touch

through softness and surrender

 

and every time I see so much beauty

an erotic innocence unfolding

so pure, so human, so real

 

we breathe together, move together, hold hands

sometimes we laugh softly

other times tears gather quietly in the corners of our eyes

 

some guests tell me afterwards

that they felt as though they travelled somewhere else

 

what I rarely say is that I go there too

 

for those moments I also step into another world

a world where time softens

where the outside fades away

where my hands say the things words never fully can

 

care, acceptance, warmth, gentleness

and a little fire running softly through my fingers

 

nothing exists there except you and me

meeting each other fully for a little while

 

and when the door closes behind you

I pause for a moment

to honour what just happened

to let the feeling settle inside me

to feel grateful

 

and somewhere in that quietness I realise again

 

that for an hour or two or three

I allowed myself to fall in love

with another human being

Love,

Rosie x

Corina Nedelcu