in bed with you

 

on the nights when your snoring is gentle it radiates

through your body like the most comforting thunder

 

tonight you hum with it, and even in your sleep you

reach out to me, wrap me up

inside your rumbling warmth

as if to say my love thank you

for the ways you can calm the tempest within me

 

and I try

to match my delicate breathing to yours, bury my head

into your chest, imagine

the relief of a summer storm

 

you don’t shake when you’re asleep

 

but dear god most nights

you sound like an old car

trying desperately to turn over but just grinding

rusted gears inside your lungs, please forgive

my inability to ignore it

 

I have written

enough sappy love poems to put

the entire state of Vermont out of business, but

my darling you know how I hate it when

my hands get sticky

 

I fear I have not spent enough time

remembering how sweet it all is

 

I hate your snoring

but I hate sleeping alone even more, it is

too quiet

too still

 

I can stand

for one night, or thousands

to lie awake and marvel at how perfectly alive you are next to me

 

Artist Bio: Haley Morgan McKinnon is a poet and playwright based in Portland, OR. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pacific University, and works as an editor for Cascadia Rising Review. Her work has been previously published in The Almagre Review, and more can be found online on New Play Exchange, or on Instagram at hmm.writer.