9.10.2023

Stalemate Understood

My head rests on his shoulder

in the Sunday stillness

of his bedroom.

I stroke his broad chest

back and forth

like the tide of the river

he's always lived along

waded into

and may or may not

have returned from

depending on who's asked.


If my hand stops moving

he'll assume I don't care

so my fingertips skate

across skin and hair.

I make the mistake

of stopping

and he shifts

half-an-inch.


"Sorry," I say.

"For what?" he asks

without opening his eyes.

"I'm not him,"

but in saying so

he's more "him"

than he would have been

in silence.


He swims in my stomach

until we both nod off

temporarily distracted.


What wounds to bear.


No comments: