Borrowed Other

We lie naked

In your room, holding hands

On a down mattress you fold up each morning

To make way for the day

You, my borrowed other

Who kisses me in stolen time

You, my borrowed other

Your skin seems burnished

Against the pale sheets

My hands are full

With the sag of your stomach

That rests lightly

On your lap when you sit

Full of your slender neck

Adorned with links of gold

Bought by your mother in Ghana

Initial resting on breast bone

You sleep so still

Like the small intake of breath you quiver

When I kiss the slope

Leading your neck into your back

When I kiss the three tones of your skin

Patched like an atlas of half a continent

Patched like an atlas of half a continent

These borrowed nights

After not speaking for months

Are when it feels best

Sweetest, soft, like lines that cut through flesh

Best, sweetest, soft, like lines that cut through flesh

I pull you into my mouth with a tenderness reserved

For sucking seeds out of black grape flesh

You sigh, eyes tight

I know in my absence you’ve prayed for this

I know in your absence I’ve prayed for this

We’ve prayed for this

We’ve prayed for this

(We’ve prayed for this)