Valentine to Gary, My Lodger

I bake a heart-shaped cake, knock on your basement 
Entry-way. You’re so tall you bend below the lintel,

And still I look up. Eating angel food, you follow me
Up the stairs. Thawed strawberries ooze from our

Mouths. “You don’t need to coax me,” you say,
Voice vibrating inside my ribs. We play chess.

You sigh, your hand settles over my queen.
My heart constricts. I gasp, take your rook.