ode to the shiver

where do you come from?

all of a sudden out of nowhere

you shake and spread from

my spine through the flanks of my back

up my neck 
through my head and 
down my arms to

each follicle of skin

rising open and out into

the very tips of my hair

be it cold, empathy or music

you are the palpability of these

bodiless and ephemeral things

you are the bridge between

the intangible and the tangible

oh shiver, you are evidence that our bodies

are catchments for the invisible

the enigmatic power of sound and feeling

made manifest in the surge called

the shiver that all sentient beings can feel

oh shiver you make me believe in

the reconciliation of body and soul

how the invisible filters through our cells

you are the sign that passion sparks us into vitality

flashing and inciting

a spontaneous biological phenomenon through

our neural pathways

our temperaments will keep on seeking stimulation

for that physical shudder that quakes

our instinct to feel and be alive

how these shivers capriciously delight our anatomy

when the organic and psychic melt into each other

these little quivers electrify our bodies

and on a trip of imagination one can incarnate

the sensual into various states of shivering being

this impulse to shiver right into

our sensory somatic selves

reveal our ability to transcend our weighty carnality

and rise with thrilling lightness

above

and

outside

of

ourselves