Let me call you lover once
and I’ll agree this love’s a tenancy.
Just one tenacious arrangement
of our mouths, some tactile synergy
—you’re good at that—to announce
the vowels, corporeally, with tongue’s fluency,
then lips, catching the sharp descent
of teeth and sound. For this small bribery,
my lover-turned-landlord, overnight,
my occupancy will be light.
I’ll pay what rent I owe in kind,
behave, keep passion confined
to small hours, the darkened stair,
and what gets damaged, lover, I’ll repair.
English