This Kiss

There's nothing like a really great snog, a passionate liplock where time stands still. Equally, there's nothing as horrible as a bad kisser...

My very first kiss was when I was 15 - yah, I was a late bloomer. I had just hit a new high school - boarding school - and to my surprise ended up with a boyfriend quite quickly. That first kiss was behind the library on a Friday night, after our compulsory evening meeting - and I was totally inexperienced. We locked lips - but French kissing? I knew nothing of that! I had to have it explained to me, then attempted... but I did catch on quite quickly.

And have loved kissing/being kissed ever since.

There's one that completely stands out though. I had a best friend - a guy who I'd gone to school with, and who studied at the same place I did after school. We were a nutty team, always doing crazy stuff like rubbing blue Smarties on our lips and walking around a mall smiling at people. Driving home from Tech with our eyes closed while the other partner in crime directed. Writing entire letters to each other in rhyme - making up words if necesary. Getting "involved" beyond friendship was out of the question, we didn't want to ruin what we had.

But one day we happened to kiss...

I can't even remember what led up to it. All I know is that we were travelling the train from town to city. But once our lips met stations passed unseen. Time went by without causing a single radar blip. I think the conductor must have come past looking for tickets, but we didn't notice. And what seemed like seconds later, we were at journey's end! Now THAT'S a good kiss!

Unfortunately it was a once-off, we never kissed again.

Worst kiss? The bloke who tried to "French" me without a hint of tongue involved. Just this open mouthed slobbery blankness. Gross!!!

I've been kissed in public, kissed in secret, kissed on the dancefloor, kissed in the back row of the movies, kissed long and hard, kissed butterfly-light. Kissed to begin something - kissed to end it all. Greeting-kissed, comfort-kissed, passion-kissed. Kissed all over.

Isn't it strange how the meeting of soft flesh between two people, a stimulation of the nerve endings around your mouth, can be so expressive? So incredibly sensational? So addictive..? Add in the anticipation of that first one with someone new - will it be a match made in heaven or a taste of hell? - and this simple touching of skin on skin turns into one of the most complex experiences. From the perfunctory peck to the passionate embrace, a kiss runs the length and breadth of meaning. A single kiss will tell you more about where you stand in the other's estimation than a page of words.

It's been a while since I indulged in a good kiss or had a run-in with an excellent kisser. I think I'm going to have to do something about that.. :-)