“I transform a little more each time I read the words in this Anthology. I come a little more undone through each curve, crevice, brushstroke, and intentional line I see, deeply, through the included artworks.

It is my Sensualist who becomes as I transform, though. It is my Sensualist who embodies as I come undone.

So, who are you as The Sensualist, before you peruse this Issue, throughout your perusal, and after you’ve let the art make you a new being?”

“Being a sensualist meant realizing that my body grew flowers because being sensual required so much toiling of the soil, watering with arousal of thought and actions, and deep prayer for the orgasmic joy of watching your flowers bloom.”

“What pulses at the center—what beats in the heart of The Sensualist—is the desire to co-create with the universe. To not only be a receiver, but a defender of our own sensations. To manifest our deepest truths by submitting to our shadows, our unconscious desires, and letting them roam free.”

“/ Use me / I’ll wax and wane under the tides of your need, my flame will be drawn to your breath, and you’ll eventually learn to yearn for me /”

“Never, I realized, would I stand as firm as the thick wooden cello. A man who cradles an instrument is not made to cradle a woman. I swore I would never allow myself to be taken by an artist again.”

options both limited & boundless.

legacies of sin beauty is blamed for, which

beauty must harness or perish—an eternal test—

so use the body

when you are told you have nothing else.

your only asset. your only worth.

“I summon forth She who lies in the shadow—

sharp salvation, sweet salivation

my sultry, my silly, my sensual

in Her every skin, she summons me

crawling on all fours…”

“Marinating in this divine chalice of magic and mystery, I shuddered in gratitude.”

“this is your Sensual speaking,

calling you Home.

come as you are. rise from the Earth.”

“kiss me good night,

drift over crevices

rest

in between places unknown”