Kingdom

We have been spies

In the countries of ourselves

The tradecraft of expectations

Fears of rejection police the borders

And we wear smiling masks

To hide the howl of our unspoken selves

Yet here we are

Passports scarred and stamped

And lying here

The silken warmth of your skin

Telling me how my pleasure excites you

And I won’t return to the overgrown

Abandoned playground

Not when I am home

A feeling over a place

And we speak through

Many ways

The clarity of your kiss

Makes me fluent

The words I’ll mispronounce

Will be private jokes

Here, a kingdom

Without a throne

Or a crown

But there is a queen

Here, small and powerful

And it is a good kingdom

To steward into brighter, stronger

Days.