Asleep

Asleep

You wish to sleep but you’re rarely awake
Nodding at each flat sentence I stutter
Refusing to speak of what I can’t:
Love’s hiding deep in our chests
Quiet and shy like you once were

I watch you every chilly night
Dreaming the stories we once lived
Tales you claim you can’t recall
Were we joined souls or twinned shades?

But in my dreams you scream with joy
You can’t remember how beautiful you were –
Sprinting and smiling as you race towards the beach

Before dawn your chest swells like that surf
Thick foam curling below castles of sand
Tall fortresses we built together
Where we’d live if we ever turned old

You fall asleep in one world
Wake in another