my innermost thoughts even
betray me
I do not want to be
the thing I become
when I sleep
the fear of sleep
my thoughts now betray
me in daylight
I remember nights entangled
with women
who are not you
I remember love
not like the love
I have of you
these visions are palely attractive
washed-out images
from mind, scrapbooks
I have not opened
in many months
I stroke the skin you touched
the last time
you reassured me of our
love it burns through my stomach
45