The Thriftette

I have loved you in three countries

On a single continent

For two years and eleven months

We have celebrated three of my birthdays and two of yours

I have spent the Christmas with your family

You have spend the summer with mine

I have taken you with me everywhere

Watched you naked, clothed, in your boxer shorts

Clean, unwashed, unshaven and shaved

I’ve been with you when you’ve cried, with your back toward me on the bed and your head against the pillow

And when you were in love with me you’d take off your glasses to kiss me because it was the only way to get close enough

I have taken you with me everywhere

And the smell of you which I am bound to forget

In a city full of artificial scents; shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, perfumes, detergents and powders, lotions and creams, you smelt to me like a human being

My thoughts are muddled with images of you

The milky fuzz of your lower lip

Imagining the sound of touching your face makes my skin ache

I have taken you with me everywhere