Pillow Talk by Dana Kinsey


Pillow Talk
by Dana Kinsey

                                Your eyes stay closed                I’ll close mine too 
                               Not sure you’re asleep                but it’s clear I dream
                                                      I shudder                blankets stolen
                                      running the dailies                from days long past

Carousel horses the night you proposed                The letters you closed “Maybe Someday”
         High-fiving as her ball finds the net                A turquoise dress that made you sigh
    Whizzing by you on my burgundy bike                Your laugh as I read Curious George

                          Nostalgia pulls my fingers                to your spine but they hover indecisive
      I fancy tattooing my name then yours                in five-inch script separated by a minus sign
            pressing the needle deep enough                so you’ll turn to me to stop the pain

                                        I study your torso                ravines too treacherous to navigate
                   Stranded in starless midnight                I map out a path to your lips
              An unexpected breath or caress                could cover me in morning

                           Pretending you’re asleep                is the kindest lie you’ve told
        These blackout shades are efficient                it’s been night for far too long
             Your breathing lush and rhythmic                weary lullaby on constant replay

                 Peeling myself from our bed 
                                            I sleepwalk through the halls 
                                                                       Skirting the creaky floorboard 
                                                                                                      and the rousing truth


Hear Dana Kinsey recite the poem on the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast:

Six Poems / Five Poets (Richard Evans / Dana Kinsey / Jeff Bien / Eliza Sible / Erika B. Girard) Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast

Submit your polished poetry for the opportunity of being published on ViewlessWings.com and being interviewed on The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast.

Dana Kinsey

Dana Kinsey is an actor and teacher published in Writers Resist, Drunk Monkeys, ONE ART, On the Seawall, Porcupine Literary, Sledgehammer Lit, West Trestle Review, and Prose Online. Dana’s play, WaterRise, was produced at the Gene Frankel Theatre. Her chapbook, Mixtape Venus, is published by I. Giraffe Press. Visit my website@ wordsbyDK.com, @dana.kinsey on Instagram, and @wordsbyDK on Twitter.

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