Our section editors chose some of their favorite published submissions from past issues to feature on our blog. This piece is from Issue 41, selected by Maddy Chriest, our current Poetry Editor.
at first
learning the rhythms of each other’s bodies, the tossing and turning, the spread-eagle limbs and
flung-out arms
and reaching fingertips
sleepovers, young girl-bodies splayed across the same bed,
whispering secrets and ghost stories and grand plans
into the dark
the dip,
the
curve,
the
movement
of a shared mattress, shiftingshiftingshifting in the middle of the night
my arm across your waist
your ankles laid across mine
bodies silverware-locked against one another, chest pressed to back, heartbeat/heartbeating
between chests, can you feel my pulse this way?
head
tucked
into the empty space above shoulder
or opposite sides of the bed, no need to touch,
finding rest at
the same place
at the same time
and
reveling in it
blankets
too warm,
that’s cold,
negotiations for a good night’s sleep
you talk in your sleep, and I kick, and I watch your face for long moments in the middle of the
night when I shake myself awake, your mouth and cheeks sleep-slack, your breath even and
chanting and what is safety if not us lying down and declaring this to be it
Love as simple as this: getting through the night together.
Comments