I kiss my lover the same way I make
a cup of tea: pour water and milk into a saucepan,
watch them swirl together, teabag just peeking
out above the surface; you and I and tangled legs
and tangled hair. Turn the heat up slowly, kisses,
first gentle, cinnamon on his mouth, bite his lip
the way I would bite into a cardamom pod, bitter
cloves sweet on his tongue, sharp ginger, his teeth on
my neck, honey: viscous liquid down my throat.
Manahil Bandukwala is a poet and artist whose work has appeared in the Puritan, Room Magazine, Bywords.ca, Coven Editions, and others. Her debut chapbook, Pipe Rose, came out with battleaxe press in June 2018. She is an editor for In/Words Magazine & Press, and is on the editorial board of Canthius. She was born and raised in Pakistan, and currently calls Ottawa home.