'Lachlan' by Julia Goodlet

The ward is quiet, 

the world is asleep 

but I cannot. 

There is an aching 

in my chest, a longing 

I’ve only just found.

It creates a strangeness, 

around me that is 

new…

I embrace the solitude,

lying here in the darkness

Your breathing catches,

wrapped tightly against me.

A snuffing, hushed sound,

I shift my weight and you 

stir but unable to move

so tightly bound to me.

Your smell, curls around…

Pulling at me, binding me.

My eyes fill, unexpectedly

I’m moved profoundly.

Our world limited,

just us, connected.

In a new and different way,

now you live outside me

The word pivots,

reorients,

shrinks and expands

Your movement stills and

I enjoy your heat.

My heart lifted as I drift,

contentedly to sleep.