Things That Make One's Heart Beat Faster

'It is night and one is expecting a visitor. Suddenly one is startled by the sound of rain-drops, which the wind blows against the shutters'

-The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 965AD

A spray of pear blossom in spring, covered with drops of rain; A hot fragrant bath, a silk robe, sweet-smelling skin and the breath of your lover; The muted hush of an audience as the lights go down; William Blake read by candlelight, The deep rumble of a man's voice, An evening chill in the open air laced with the faintest smell of jasmine, hot skin sliding into cool water, the accidental brush of fingertips, a storm aproaching over mountains; a skilled musician playing, a solitary man watching rain on his windows, walking over smooth stones in the fog; Wisteria blossoms falling in a light breeze; Epic battles and tales of hero's; a blank sheet of paper and something burning inside that wants to fill it; Wooden bookshelves piled high with well-read volumes; Horses unsaddled and running in the early morning; The flung spray and the blown spume and the seagulls crying; the song of the wolf; a father with his newborn baby; museums full of silence and shadow; mango juice trickling down your chin on hot summer nights, the muscles moving on a man's back as he swims alone; lychee nectar over shaved ice; an unexpected hand-written letter; Eyes that speak secrets; bare skin on sun-warmed rocks; the moment something changes; a solitary violin in a minor key; Ripe strawberries hidden under leaves; spider-webs glistening with dew; discovering a wild plum tree; the grace of a dancer; the notion that he's alone and thinking of you; a hint of warmth and fragrant skin beneath a suit, wood-fire smoke in the early evening; expensive Pinot in fine glass sipped alone while watching night fall; the solitary cry of a black cockatoo at sunset; bare feet on warm sand or cool soft grass; faces in firelight; overhearing soft forbidden sighs; walking alone in warm rain; the smell of chestnuts roasting outdoors beneath autumn trees; Eating warm passionfruit from the vine; drowning in Symphonic sound alone and in the company of hundreds; words that are not spoken; finding by accident old love-letters and reading them slowly; ruins and gnarled orchards; sleeping on crisp cotton sheets covered by a warm breeze; a man building a wooden house; the glint of fool's gold in a running stream; ripe tomatoes on the vine; poppies in a field of wheat; bathing in moonlight; the moment before he arrives; howling winds while buried under a soft quilt; autumn leaves crunching under boots; kissing in water; tea, turtlenecks and solitude.