In the dark, when I cannot see the shape
of your body, you seem even smaller than your
smallness; you are still trembling, the little
needles of your fingernails burrowed
into my arm.
This is my favorite moment:
curled against you, my ear against your back,
I am listening to the rapid patter
of your small mouse heart,
to the quick mouse breaths
you are breathing.
This poem was originally published under the pen name Gabriel Gadfly.
