swapping culture

you read poetry for me
in Farsi as i
stood behind you
breathing in the scents
of your hair
my hands on your
slender shoulders
and soon after we sat
so close talking earnestly
about politics and love
it shouldn't seem
as if friendship
had been shared for years
we shouldn't really be together

i grow to know you
at leisured pace
and desire that we be
more than friends
but am restricted
by a knowledge of
your vulnerability
...yet still small fragments
fail to fit and i wonder
if you really understand
what i meant
when i said i
did not understand
your culture

your presence warms me and
your mouth hypnotises as we talk
and i watch your coral lips glide
over polished teeth
and your tongue flicker
when you laugh
...and we laugh a lot
selfishly i want you with me
longer,
realized later
when we parted
and you spoke my name
that i shall grow to miss you more
each time you leave