The sound of your breath
Amongst a world that is otherwise quiet
Against walls that otherwise
Have nothing to overhear
I remember when, miles from here, I
Imagined the sound
And envisioned your left arm
Draped drowsily around me
I remember so vividly
How savage silence can be
My own breath, erratic against the static
My ever-racing mind, combative
Refusing to yield to the tumbling minutes
Refusing to accept a world without you in it
I used to wonder if it would ever get easier
To fall asleep without you
If the stillness of the night
Would ever cease to frighten me
And when my answer came
I had little hope that remained
Only that eventually I would fall to a darkness
With no escape
Catch the perfect wave at its break
And enter a dream in which I would never wake.
