Her prayer is I'll give
unexpectedly
a deep kiss from my pool
of privacy
a kiss
without ale fumes
or caffeine or cigarettes or motah
a kiss
clean
because I want to.
But I soak alone & she fears
I'll sink to my eyes, grow gills.
I laugh.
She shivers.
Our room is scented with a history
of hops & barley & laughs like the one I just gave.
She knows I'm
unlisted half the day with whatever
'I need to do to make the day mine.'
She knows and I know that I'll stay close
to the last E in distance