Ya Leil, Don't Tell

Shutters down, I move my cup

The street knew my divorce
Before the ink was dry
Neighbours carried it from bakery to tram
Seen twice with you, the sewing stops
The whole room goes quiet
Behind the café my cousin keeps the key
No photograph, no promise
One room, the truth

Don't mistake my quiet
For fear of my own name

Ya leil, don't tell
Keep us under the drum
Shutters down, my cup moved off the sill
Not because this love is shame
Because this love has just begun

(Not shame) Ya leil, don't tell

Three months on, same room
Spring under the door
I knew your hour, I never walked you home
You set your palms flat on the table
"You love me only at midnight
That's the cheapest part of me"
Then I opened the shutters
And noon came in

I used the night as a room
To keep my fear in
I called it discretion
Kept my coat on indoors
All winter, back against the window
Not to protect you
So the street couldn't name me

Ya leil, don't tell
You were a shelter, not a wall
Shutters up, my cup back on the sill
This love was never shame
And it has only just begun

Café opens, cups turn over
You sit where everyone can see
Ya leil, don't tell
I'll tell it myself