Your First Kiss Was a Social Contract

Your first kiss was a social contract,

Signed in nervous, fumbling dark.

Not just a meeting of the lips,

But the striking of a hidden spark.

It promised future tenderness,

And lessons on how hearts can break.

It swore that you would learn the maps

That every single kiss can make.

It bound you to the human chain,

Of those who’ve loved and been loved back.

A silent, ancient, shared agreement,

There is no turning from this track.

The terms were never spoken aloud,

But you agreed to feel the sting,

The glorious, terrifying risk

That every new beginning brings.

You promised to be vulnerable,

To let your guarded fortress fall.

To risk the awkward, strange, and sweet,

And give another your all.

In that brief touch, you ratified

A pact to know both joy and pain.

To have your world gently re-made,

And then to have it break again.

So every kiss that came since then,

Is just an addendum to that page.

The first one made you a member

Of love’s complex and crowded stage.

A contract signed with racing pulse,

In that first, fleeting, timeless bliss.

The moment that you understood

What all the songs were about. This.