I rest my head beneath your chin
that tender cavity between
your neck and your shoulder
and nudge my nose against
the grain of your midnight stubble.
The skin beneath your ear
is saturated from your cologne notes of musk, sandalwood, guiac.
Soft and dreamy.
City life gleams through the glass
of the apartment windows
the light smoothly bending
and refracting into our eyes.
Your fingers gently twitch
resting on my upper arm
as nightlife echoes against
the brick of the five-story building.
I'm no match for city life.
I listen as you sleep.
The creek of the wooden floorboards
and the slight sway of the velvet curtains
in the zephyr from the ceiling fan.
I look up at you.

I look away for a moment
then ask for the check
outside the Italian restaurant
on the corner of second and fourth.