The Second Kiss — Gayle Rogers

When the bloody attack on the wagon train was over, the beautiful Maria was the only one left alive. Now she was the captive prize of the bold Nakoa--bravest of all Blackfoot warriors--a man of primitive passions whose mystic vision had decreed the white woman to be his mate--a decree that lit the fires of desire in them both even while it challenged their customs, their people, their very gods!



The Second Kiss

For every man there are two kisses.
The first kiss is of the mother, the earth,
With her food and warmth and light for growing.

The second kiss is the golden kiss.
It is the kiss of the self,
And its fire and light and warmth
Is greater than all of the suns in the sky!

With the second kiss, the mother is needed no longer.
She is for the children yet crawling upon her surface.
With the second kiss darkness has light,
Coldness has warmth,
And all strangers are accepted.

Bless be the dead. Blessed be the receivers of the second kiss.
They feel not with hands of clay,
But with the beating of the universe.
If they remained in our shadow,
We would hear them wailing for us
From the Wolf Trail itself!

Originally published as Nakoa's Woman