Bean Nighe

Holly Day

I stood over your bed and watched you sleep
watched your breath come in and out of your body in ethereal waves
of damp heat. I stood so close to you I could
feel your warm breath on my skin, close enough to imagine
crawling into your bed, curling up next to you beneath the thin blankets
could have reached out and touched you, taken you in your sleep
dragged you out of bed by your hair and taken you home with me.

Instead, I dropped your purse on the floor, made
just enough noise that you stirred in your sleep. If
someone else had found your purse, someone not me,
they could have come into your apartment and taken you
where you slept. You’re so lucky it was me
and not some lunatic. All I want is
to watch you sleep, to know that you got back home safely
despite having dropped your purse in the street
to see if you were as pretty
as your driver’s license picture.