i hear your heart, still,

 

when i lie very quiet,

in cloth sheets emptied;

as evening and dawn marry out the window

only silence and i keep awake.

 

on it thumps,

through dead air;

through fabric

and skin

 

heady,

 

and between echoes of breath     

mine rises in time with

yours.

 

but it falls alone,

in morning emptying     

in mourning, empathy    

 

beat in the light that creeps between

ribs