Sleep Walking

Sleep Walking
by Kateryna Korolkova
A fan winds and unwinds the heat
to the perpetual hum of the AC.
Faucets drip,drip and people must be
milling about outside.
Submerged in this sweating room
I writhe about like a fish on a slab
of concrete, while your breath
is steady and your mouth is
a natural mouth.
Rest a damp palm on my thigh, I sigh
all night, drifting in and out
sleep, sleep. Stirring, stealing grazes,
filling spaces in between.
Morning creeps in and we peal apart,
shaking off our night skin to sip
bitter black tea. I watch
you dress in all white, sun rays
streaming through the strands of hair falling
into your eyes, forgetting to tell you I’ve emptied
the last bit of sugar in the tin.