To wake up next to you,
o! to wake up in a warm daze,
to become aware of sheets, tenderly entwining limbs,
mouth sucked dry with dreams...

O! to lean against too-many white pillows,
a mug of perfumed tea in hand,
'Für Elise' winding threads
around an eggshell light
gentle from a crack
between blowsy curtains...

O! to watch thirteen nubile leaves
on the cherry blossom tree
nodding thoughtfully to 'Laudate Dominum',
miming ancient conductors
twitching their ancient hands...

O! to feel the damp
of last night's eternal struggles,
last night's endless battles
with passion, raw,
acid, unashamed...
O! to wake up to the gentle
touch of the morning...

O! to sip the tea, hot and redeeming,
bringing mouths,
bringing words and silences
back to life...
and skin!
O! skin, how you have slept in a cocoon of
expectation...
how you have slept in the sweet confidence
of morning's arrival-
morning's sure and knowing embrace...

O, to be sure...
to ever be so sure again
of morning's sweet and musky drowsiness,
of morning's lazy passion...