Across This Expanse...

Across This Expanse



When we found each other,
it was as if our souls melted
and the blending
of our insecurities
created an epoxy.
So, we married
and created a space
for ourselves
in this ill-fitting world
where we were still lost,
but no longer
alone.



Years passed, folding the domestic
into foreign shadows.  At night,
I lie awake listening to the pattern
of your breathing; watching the rise
and fall of your back.  Slumber
soothes the tempest.  Silence
amplifies the distance.
I cannot bridge the chasm
alone.


I wonder if you can feel me from across
this expanse of cool cotton percale.
Can you feel how I need
to crawl under your skin,
pull you up to my chin
and breathe in?  My longing
is a cocoon spun around a dream
of hope.