Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
~Patti Smith
_______

We know, of course, it belongs to them.
But remember how it used to be ours
until it slipped unseen through our hands?

We had our fun you and I.
We drank and danced till the busses stopped running.
And now apparently it's all theirs.

How strange, when you think of it, that such a thing
could be possessed, given that it’s right there in front of us.
How could it ever really slip away?

Now the question is: How do we get it back?
What do we need to do to claim it even though
we know that it supposedly belongs to them?

Let’s meet again. What do you say?
You there, me there too. Let’s take hold of
all that slipped through.

Let’s possess it again, feel the heat
and the rhythmic pulse the way it felt so long ago
before it belonged to them.

There it is— Do you see it? Right there—
Touch it. Taste it. Like the sweet tang of fresh mango.
This time—let’s agree—that we’ll not let go.