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Jay Deshpande, author of Love the Stranger (YesYes Books, 2015), was born in Austin, Texas, and received an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MFA in poetry from Columbia, where he also taught. He runs Brooklyn’s Metro Rhythm Reading Series, and his poem “Keeping Up” won Third Place in Narrative’s Fourth Annual Poetry Contest. Deshpande lives in New York City.

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On the Meaning of Love

by Jay Deshpande
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It was an age when these things could happen. I began
by touching her hand, softly, caressing it. I began
by kissing her. I kissed her with my lips
on her mouth. It was inventive. I opened my lips

onto her mouth. I made it clear that I enjoyed this
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