Lessons and Kisses

Photo by Ross Goodman

“God says, “Here’s a lesson and a kiss / You can walk though fire or crawl through this” / But that’s the price you pay for temptation / There’s no other way through temptation.” Rosanne Cash

I’ve been thinking a lot about Rosanne Cash’s definition of temptation – a lesson and a kiss. I write erotic romance, so temptations (and kisses) are my stock in trade.  But isn’t this what we all want? Passion so compelling it’s worth walking through fire and crawling through Hell? It’s not the pink, light sweet love of Valentine’s candy – Be Mine – but hot, melting craving, pure need.  The stuff of fantasies. Of course, whether that’s workable in real life?

In the 90′s I had a friend who kept finding herself having two or three perfect dates with someone and then POOF! he was gone. She decided that the way to identify a commitment phobic man (does anyone still talk about them? They were al l the rage back then) was that only they were as present, confident and wholly perfect as a romantic hero. I wonder if that’s true.

 It seems to me that there’s something incredibly romantic about the lover standing by your bed when you come out of surgery or who holds you when your dog dies. Those are the fires we really crawl through during life and those are the kisses worth keeping.