Perfect + Poetic (almost) Porn
This is just a forewarning - before you is a very random, unexpected dribble about how a passage in the bible has really intrigued me and prompted me to share with you a modern reading of it.
Brought up a Seventh Day Adventist, I know my bible pretty well. I know it because it was essentially on hand with me. Because I read daily devotions. Because like spinning a globe or tracing a map, I sought out the next direction I would take with a closed-eyed flick through the pages until my finger landed on a particular page. Sometimes, like when your finger lands on the ocean, my finger would land on "and such and such begat such and such." I took that not to mean that my life would take a turn towards having a baby (I was a teenager at the time), or that I'd get stuck out at sea. I'd laugh and try again.
Aaaand getting back on track, what I was meaning to drag you along into was a quick anecdote about how recently, after years of neglecting this impressive book that makes and breaks people and nations, that has a lot of criticism as a pool of knowledge and history about this "God" guy (um, can I just say that the internet is full of dodgy stuff too at times but we seem to turn a blind eye), I have picked up a copy, opened it with eyes closed, and my finger landed upon the Songs of Solomon.
"What on earth is that?" you might ask. Can I tell you, it is a culmination of all the things good about love. And, unbeknownst to me, has been the root of my belief in people, in love, in a good perception of myself, and in trusting another person to be a part of my life in such an intimate way. Songs of Solomon traces King Solomons courting, wedding and marriage in his young age. His intense sexuality and idealistic spirituality is poetic, and some may say a Biblical example of written pornography. And that's what I love about it. Here it is:
Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
And come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
Awake, O north wind,
let its spices flow.
To which his lady friend replies:
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
YOU'RE IN BUDDY (my commentary, not part of the original text)
SEX ALERT. WEE WAW. PG 13+ amiright?
Anyway. A bit of a long read, but you'd have read it if I said it was JK Rowling or Lena Dunham's girl-power novel.
How friggin ace is that. Apart from us learning of Solomon's appreciation of his lady friend's titties. He goes from head to toe, admiring her every point of being, covering what she may see as "flaws" ("you are altogether beautiful my love; there is no flaw in you.") and assuring her that she is everything to him, and everything about her is everything to him. Better than "wine" or "any spice". I mean wine is a pretty good time, so he's really gotta love the woman. If they'd said "better than blue cheese melted on a lamb burger patty with onion relish" I think that would be a modern approach and still applicable.
I don't know about you guys, but in my opinion that's a pretty good way to get your lady friend into the mood. Spend time acknowledging her existence, her presence in your life. And allowing her to acknowledge these by telling her as well. Bible lesson over.
