It Only Has to Happen Once

It only has to happen once
For anybody else’s skin to feel
Rough or too thin
All it takes
Is a quick constellation
Of daylight, headlights
And precipitation

It only has to happen once
For anybody else’s sweat to taste
Too salty, or too sweet
It doesn’t take two nations
Or two signatures
Just two pupils, and a fool
It only has to happen once

It only has to happen once
For every caress to read
Desperate or repressed
Before a baby can tell right from wrong
It already knows the song
It only has to happen once

All it takes
Is a quick constellation
Of shadows, lashes
And implication
It only has to happen once