Page 100 of Wayfarers

Knox On Guard

Sleeping people breathe

with a certain rhythm

you can’t achieve if you’re thinking

about it.

And yet here I am, wide awake, trying

to feign sleep because I can tell

from Sylvie’s breathing that she’s also pretending

and I would feel terrible

if it was because she’s on guard and afraid

to fall asleep around me.

I’d leave and return

to the tent but outside

the storm rages.

Oh who am I kidding.

I’d leave and return

to the tent but inside

her skin is warm next to mine.

I’d leave and return

to the tent but inside

I get to listen to her breathe.

Knox Dreamspeak

Finally I drifted off sometime

in the wee hours, when the storm waned

and the beat of rain on the van’s roof

slowed and so did Sylvie’s breath

as she released herself

into sleep.

And now the dawn light sneaks in,

seeping through the van’s cracks,