After twenty years is there fire?                 

 

​

consumed with wanting to

touch your body

i lay on my side of the bed

leaning my corpulence against the sheet

my hand cups my chin, elbow presses into my pillow

you lay in front of me a dark landscape under cover

searching for private secrets through the huge window

our talk has faded into quiet in these late hours

words no longer needed for being together

you raise up, roll over, do not look at me

settle into the softness of life between us

i am alone in the heat of us

a fierce fire burning deep in me

you open your eyes not seeing

i am glad you do not notice my body’s urge tonight

slipping down to join you in the comfort of us

my eyes on you, we kiss lightly as loved ones do

good night, i love you,

i roll my steaming body over, lift the sheet

and slide back against you

we fit, match, fold together making a whole.

 

​

 

Sharon Lopez Mooney, “Morning Mystery”, From Roundtable Literary Journal, Issue  55, ed. Caitlin Chester and Elizabeth Burton, Hopkinsville, KY, 2021