Classic Poem

Until now the flesh has not been at home in the universe,
Until now the flesh has been looked upon as born out of wedlock,
Until now the flesh has been veiled and quoted against the universe,
It has been obliged to sneak through the world, to take its chances in the shadows,
It has been compelled to serve and suffer but has not been allowed a voice,
It was even the but while the shield of the spirit, it took the blows of the spirit,
Yet it was forever forbidden, was forever denied its rank, dispossessed of its properties:
The flesh, the holy flesh, the mother flesh of man, the father flesh of woman,
Clean, washed sacredly clean, in the infallible economy of birth

The flesh contains the best of love and gives the best of love,
The flesh offers itself all, and first offers itself and last offers itself,
The flesh is signed for by the attributes of heaven and the attributes of hell,
The flesh is the bridgeway by which the spirit passes onward to fruition,
The flesh is reverent and worships when and where the spirit worships:
What would you give for the universe if it had two places for worship?
What would you give for the universe if it had two places for worship?
Where should the flesh worship but with the spirit?
The flesh is that which maddens love and that which restrains love
What did the flesh ever do to you that you say such hard things about it?
What is love for if not for the flesh and what is flesh for if not for love?

They were afraid to touch you, flesh, afraid and afraid:
I take you in my arms, I journey the full journey with you, not taking off a single step:
If I could not honor you who are flesh I could not honor you who are spirit,
If I was sorry for the ecstasies of the flesh I would be sorry for the ecstasies of the spirit,
If I was to sneak to the flesh and ask for its pleasures in the dark I would sneak to the spirit and ask for its pleasures in the dark.

If a man touches me or a woman touches me flesh reports to flesh in the sacred language of love:
If a man gives me that which is wholly his and mine to give and take or if a woman gives me that which is wholly hers and mine to give and take,
If something, words could not tell about possesses me and the lords god appear in the habit of the flesh,
If something, I do not know what, belongs to me from you, O woman,
If something, I do not know what, belongs to me from you, O man,
If the darling and imperative flesh assumes the mysterious errand of interchange,
Shall I cry out against the perfecting flesh and call upon the universe to save the flesh from itself?

So far the banished flesh has not been at home in the universe,
Motherhood has not been at home, fatherhood has not been at home,
The children playing their games have not been at home,
The thrill that passes into me when I touch your body has not been at home,
The kisses of men and women have not been at home,
The embracings and longings and sacrificed desires have not been at home,
The hunger of the body for the body has not been at home,
All has been alien, all has been degraded and soiled:
Until now the flesh, standing up and accusing the spirit,
Until now the flesh, coming out of the shadows, remaining in the open, fully avowing itself,
The flesh, the holy flesh, the mother flesh of man, the father flesh of woman,
Records its inalienable birthright.