If you and I had never met and loved, br My heart would be a tight black bud, br Forever furled, seeming to be promising br A fragrant opening, a spreading bed of roses, br But closed, bitten early by the frost, br Denying access to the butterfly of love. br br If my eyes had never opened on your clear gaze, br My blindness, my oblivion, would be complete. br Wrapped in night, I’d not have seen my future, br My past and every moment of my present, br Bathed in rose light, glowing, br Softly coloured by the lens of love. br br If I had not heard your voice br Murmuring close, crying out in passion, br Making of my name a holy mantra, br I’d not have known what music is, br Nor listened to my inner voice br That prompts my songs of everlasting love. br br If I had not smelled your skin’s perfume, br Nor tasted sweetness on your morning breath, br Nor pressed my head to your broad chest br And breathed musk through the warm damp wool, br I’d still live in a sterile place, without br The sweet-sour scents that we create through love. br br If with loving hands I had not touched br Your hands that bring such ecstasy to me, br Not stroked the velvet secrets that you hide, br Nor felt your gentle mouth upon my breast, br My body’d be a prison and a shell, br If you and I had never lain in love.