Love poem

We lay without pants 

on the unchartered tiles 

of the cold bathroom floor

where we kissed each other’s bodies:

there was so much affection between us. 

Having forgotten our friends 

just outside the door, 

as they danced and drank whiskey, 

we spent time

knowing, accepting, revelling

in how vulnerable we knew we were becoming, 

feeling somehow safe despite it 

in all the new. 

With each touch, 

we were learning and 

taking notes of the particularities 

of the other 

without realising. 

It was hard to kiss

and look at each other 

at the same time, and 

I wondered which I had to privilege. 

I tried to memorise your face

so that I could elicit it 

in moments apart. 

We knew the words 

for what was happening all weekend. 

Too soon to utter anything, 

we spooned, 

switching every so often 

to assure we were both held so close.