I imagined <br />rain casting bows <br />cross your sleep struck neck, <br />you tossed and sighed <br />heavy skin to bitter winter- <br />Your shoulders slender and spent, <br />you held up the world <br />and it gave you exhaustion. <br /> <br />The days were long then, <br />they came at us with jagged teeth <br />disguised behind the make-up of spring- <br /> <br />We were worn in those days, <br />so we made love to invoke sleep- <br />and in the wake <br />you'd recite stories and poems <br />for effect - <br />I remember: <br />you were always on adventure, <br />delving into foreign lands <br />where only your mind could take you- <br />and I was always going home, <br />tied to an umbilical cord and hair <br />that sprung from the roots of mother- <br /> <br />Then after you extinguished <br />the day's final cigarette, <br />you'd roll over and extinguish yourself- <br /> <br />and while I'd lay limp and lonely at your side, <br />I realized: <br /> there is nothing you can do in this life, <br />no commitment or companionship you could offer <br />that would free me <br />- <br />so I turn from the sound <br />of your lungs heaving, <br />to the twilight just beyond <br />and find myself <br />in the spaces between silence and stars- <br /> <br />In these tortured thoughts <br />I'd rest, eyes unblinking and focused <br />on the deep purple of universe- <br />I know <br />sleep cannot comfort dreamers.<br /><br />Amberlee Carter<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sigh/
