honest oratory, honest poetry

Imagine that I was drawn to your body as a lover is drawn; then you would see that when I touch you I want my touch to carry my love to your heart; but that means that my feelings must be allowed to flow into my fingers; and that means that you must allow my fingers to move along your nerves like a voice within a wire; then the sound of your heart will be, as well, the sound of my voice, and the sound of my voice--not as simple sound, not because it's mine, and not because my accent is so wondrously unique, but because it contains the touch of the true word--will circulate as one blood between us. This is what honest oratory--this is what poetry--is all about.

William Gass, "The Habitations of the Word"