Her Name on Your Mouth

You come in wearing weather And I take your coat like care You say you shouldn’t stay here But you always find the chair I know the way you breathe out When the evening lets you down I know the little silence Before you turn around And I hate the way you soften When her name is in the room Like a candle being sheltered Like a flower under moon Don’t say her name on your mouth Not when mine is this close Don’t give her half of the evening When I’m the one who knows How you take your tea too bitter How you lie when you are kind Don’t say her name on your mouth When your hands are almost mine She has your Sunday mornings She has your better shirt She gets the clean beginning I get the wine and hurt She has the open curtains She has the photographs I get the door half-latched And the careful aftermath And I hate her for the daylight For the ordinary claim For the way you say “I love you” Like it only has one name Don’t say her name on your mouth Not when mine is this close Don’t give her half of the evening When I’m the one who knows How you take your tea too bitter How you lie when you are kind Don’t say her name on your mouth When your hands are almost mine I could be gentle I could be good I could be everything She thinks you understood I could be patient I could be wise I could stop asking Where your wedding ring hides But there it is, darling Pale on your skin A little closed circle I keep standing in So let her have the morning Let her have the key Let her have the honest version You never bring to me I’ll have the hour after I’ll have the loosened tie I’ll have the part of you That still remembers how to lie Don’t say her name on your mouth Not when mine is this close Don’t give her half of the evening When I’m the one who knows How you take your tea too bitter How you leave before you stay Don’t say her name on your mouth If you’re going back that way You come in wearing weather And I take your coat like care You say you shouldn’t stay here But you always find the chair