The coffee cup with your lipstick mark
Seductive tempting
I want to bring it to my mouth
To taste you
Cedar and cinnamon

I hear you talk
And wonder if I can protect you from the world
But mostly from yourself
Your naiveté calling forth
the attack of wolves

How did I miss you
Before we had the chance to become an us
While your shadow stayed on
Constantly competing for attention

Why did you leave
Without saying goodbye
Only to reappear bursting with intense admonishment
For the lost years between

I watch them fall away
While we form ourselves around the other
Something new
Nothing lost
Just the strings tugging
Never snapping, even with age

Dubai Feb 2019