ROMANCE Poem: Domesticating Muse, by Rizwan Akhtar

I want you to leave the skillet stewing
and listen to the poem I am holding

you may bring yours after you finish
squashing sheets and steaming shirts

our pact need to be revised off and on
ironing words too is a domesticity,

to go lyrical with impulsive kisses
inside kitchen or a serenade on taps,

not crammed with ingredients your
recipe; knead fingers, mope hands

over a rattling kettle and a toaster
rinse cups and towel their dampness

by the time the taste eludes palettes
embracing in front of a burning hob.