Too often, I exchange sleep
For watching the way
The morning light
Reflects off your skin
Your face
Shines
As if something holy
Sometimes I lean in close,
Whisper a few words
I don't mean to,
The words slipping
Out of my mouth
Like a prayer in
My mother tongue
Maybe in your dreams
You'll understand
Each foreign syllable
As they flow
Off my lips
A river of devotion
Rushing downstream
But when you wake
My heart must beat
In a language
It barely knows
You smile
An American smile
I can't emulate
You're shining again,
But this time
It's just you
You beg me
To say it again
As if my heavy thoughts
Were worth holding
Just this once, your sweetness
Swallows me whole
Vulnerability burns
Like the hot tea
Babushkas make
You drink it all
Without hesitation
I never learned
What it meant
To be gentle
I don't dare laugh
Or dance
The bright way
You do
But in a mess
Of soft blankets
Tangled legs
And mistranslations
The dark corners
Of this lonely apartment
Seem to sparkle