A Kiss is Not Just a Kiss
~ a
recent scientific study
A scientist insists we osculate,
lock our lips, for basic primal urges
to judge potential mates. But we ask: Why?
Researchers do not link it to arousal
or hook it to the habits we find spousal,
functioning to flame romantic surges.
This common act that most enjoy immensely
is not, they found, the glue relationships
construe as needed with our chance encounters
or bonds of longer term, while pulling strangers
into one's own space with all its dangers.
More complicated is a crush of lips.
Kissing was important before sex
in hook-ups, less important in the act,
and least important when the deed was done.
Kisses on the lips or open-mouth
define the act for those who are uncouth,
weighing both the fictional and fact.
For some the kiss had other purposes --
to keep connections with their lingual muscle,
and kissing mattered little during sex,
but correlates with long-term happiness.
More than intercourse it eases stress.
Forget the acrobatic sweat and tussle.
Biology and social norms have shaped
the science and the gentle art of kissing.
It draws us close to share each other's scent.
Sex workers do not give their clients kisses,
as deep emotion this transaction misses.
And we -- alone -- know well what we are missing.
Royal Rhodes
If you have any thoughts
about this poem, Royal
Rhodes would like to hear them.
