love without the words [poem]

my head rests on your chest
your slow inhale and exhale a soothing lullaby
in the quiet of the room
I consider it
as my fingers trace your hipbone
mapping your body into my memory
I think about the words I keep
locked inside my ribcage
the kind of prisoners with Stockholm syndrome
who don’t ever want to escape their prison
I wonder what they’d mean to you
whether you’d hear a reason to hold me close
or one really good excuse to let me go
I stopped labeling the things I give people anymore
figured it was better to let them call it
simply kindness or friendship or just plain fun
better to be burdened by the words they choose
than banished for my own
and so I kiss your shoulder and bite my tongue
because I like it in your arms
even if it’s all I can have
at least with silence I get to keep this