arlihama

I lie on the floor, I cannot bear the bed, the sheets, so sweet smelling soft. I lie on the floor like it is the deck of a ship before a storm. the things I used to tell you no one knows, the nightmares followed us home, but I like to think you have learned the secret - where to begin the forgetting. I put you in a room like a moth in a jar, listen for your last breath, open the door, but you are gone the scent of burning hair, the animal fear, the way your knees brush each other like leaves, soundless I lie on the floor, my hipbone falling between beams, dirty laundry under my cheek, I fall asleep watching the rise and fal