Translucent

i watched you

fall asleep

from the chair

beside the bed

the slow rise

and fall

of the blankets

refuting still life

i watched you

fight in your sleep

battles clearly visible

under your eyelids

every twitch

every shudder

every incoherent gasp

perspiration beads

on your top lip

i reach inside

and find some words

and etch them

ever so tenderly

just under

your pale skin

where only

you and i can see

a tome and tellings

of nightmares vanquished

and of a life

still being lived

Z03