I fight the urge to rub my tongue
against the sweetness of you,
to test the rumor my mouth
keeps telling my body—
that devotion can taste like this.
I crave to love you out loud,
the way you deserve,
without whispering my want into corners,
without shrinking my hunger
to fit inside somebody else’s gospel.
I memorize every line
of your love languages
like psalms from the Bible—
recite them when I’m alone,
murmur them when my faith gets shaky.
Your presence teaches me patience
& undoes it at the same time.
You are the ache I don’t pray away,
the blessing I let linger on my lips.
I want to learn the geography
of you slowly—
the pauses, the soft places,
the way your breath changes
when you feel seen.
I want to stay there.
Let my desire be careful & bold.
Let it kneel without shrinking.
Let it speak your name
like a vow my body has already made.
I don’t want restraint if it means silence.
I don’t want holiness without heat.
If loving you is a form of worship,
then let me do it honestly—
with my mouth full of praise,
with my hands learning
what reverence feels like,
with honey still clinging
to every part of you
that I touch…
Dr. Darius Phelps is the author of My God’s Been Silent (Writ Large Press, 2026) and The Holy Ghost Lives In Her Laugh (Kith Books, 2026). A poet before anything else, his work bears witness to grief, faith, and the act of becoming—offering language as a form of liberation and light. Through the lens of poetic inquiry, Dr. Phelps explores how verse can function as pedagogy, healing and survival. Rooted in Black literary traditions and personal testimony, his work has been featured or is forthcoming in Frozen Sea, wildness, Diode, Tupelo Quarterly, Matter Monthly, Cultural Daily, Een Magazine, School Library Journal, and many more. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.