My lover kisses my mouth wet with juniper:
with desire. Two parts gin, one part summer jam:
bitter vermouth, rich with smoke
and longing.
Tousles my hair loose from on high:
snarls it between his fingers, drops a kiss on my brow:
whispers "let me see you."
Naked we slip between the sheets. First:
the breaths that pass between our lips. Last,
a sip of salt and skin.
Under the trees, his hand slips from mine,
the gin from my lips. Laughter echoes on cobble,
on ears snagged in tangled hair:
bruises on my wrists.
My lover is the wind of autumn, the hot kick
of mother's ruin. Bitter and sweet, I wait:
for the fall of summer, for the turn of leaves.
The taste of juniper between our lips.