What’s shared on this pillow
Must never leave your lips.
Must never see the light of day
Or spill forth into view.
It’s just for this second I’ll share it –
This second that feels so empty
And needs to be filled.

Words just seem to lay there
Enveloping us
And hiding in the tangled sheets.
They’re wounded soldiers, these words of mine.
They’re the i-love-yous
And the i-want-yous
That you don’t want to hear.
I want to hear them though,
I want to see them between us.
I want to see them stain the crisp linen
And confuse your senses.

Because you’re mine.
                   At least for now,
                   While we’re here.

While we’re trapped in a prison –
Of pristine white.

I’ll be delicate with you,
I’ll stroke the curves of your back
And the furrows of your face
That I’ve come to know so well
From this horizontal.
Because it seems so right
For my fingers to skim you –
But to wonder what lays underneath.

And I want you to hold me,
But I don’t know how to ask.
I don’t know how to reach out to you
Even though your breath is so close
And your scent is so pure.
It reminds me that we can’t be over.
Because I crave you,
Crave this connection,
Crave your presence in this bed of mine.

I want to close my eyes to you.
I want to wake to you.
I want more than just this midnight show.
I want to feel warm skin
By my side.
And strong, petrifying eyes to see me.
To see who I really am,
And leave me bare before you.
It’s perfect this feeling,
Of quietly dreaming here.
Dreaming of this moment we’re encompassed in.

Just want me,
Don’t throw me to the curb.
Where without your fingertips
I’ll surely perish.
Because your effect is so ghostly,
And everywhere you trace me
Haunts me for days to come.
Until I can have you again,
Hold you again,
Lay here again,
And ooze these sleepy, pleased phrases
That trickle down your spine –
           South.