Midnight An extra pillow for your lack A song pats my back I listen to the dark Boom Another missile Hostages, memorials, protests The Holy Land vies Outside my safe room, people are pawns The Mediterranean Sea marries the sky Rocket alerts usurp messages Third degrees overrule dates Mars becomes home I waste on a firm mattress for the first time in fourteen months A sunken futon on a floor never allured so much A dirty hostel's cramped dorm, or a stranger's couch Highlights colored the past Now, the only life born in my sheets is poems Flashcards replace friends I study languages instead of folks If I could tempt back into your tempest And starve myself for another week abroad To walk more than I ate To see your face and hear your voice I am starting to forget your accent Every day, I remind myself of your guffaw Little effort is needed, even in a gathering Blind is the blade of my awe Clocks run late to your patience Hearts hammer to your passion Nuns blush at your reservedness Hot springs seethe at your warmth 'Tis but the tip of the iceberg Who are you? A bottom without a top You made my knees tremble And soothed me more than temple stays My map of your quirks is uncharted Your flaws, I could never loath Sunrise to sunset, coats to T-shirts East to West, at your behest Turning, twisting, waiting For the harmony of your chaos Here or there, ever a foreigner The life of the party in the Far East Can't notice the Middle East in a corner It wilts me that you bloom in my leave My oasis is a drought You bask in someone else's shade Sour is the seed of empathy you plant in my throat Fever dreams steam wonder Are you lonely? When you're with him Do you need me? Are you happy? Talking to the Wailing Wall What if you choked on a nut? What if I no longer over-thought We wouldn't even hear You wouldn't even mourn With the heat of a pillow against my chest Curled up, afraid That we'll never exchange another word I speak; you react In your own singular way Empires rise and fall. Our lips hang "Yes " "Yes -" "No" I can't do this, can't concentrate Till I confessed my love, which you taught A torch in the dark can't extinguish its flame Where does your wind blow? In this maze of mixed signals Every turn leads to a close If I found your opening I would tell you one, three, five - words - I'm losing a game I never wanted to play I turn right, you're left Dead end. Hide-and-seek, your tongue-in-cheek I'm lost In the darkness of a pit, realization dawns For the first time in my life Too late to rejoice From the start, it was uneven You liked. I adored So if I wished you were miserable Would that alienate you even more? How dare you smile in my absence Walk this Earth and not recall It drives me mad to know That your life goes on That you don't think about me at all Midnight An extra pillow for your lack A song pats my back I can't escape my thoughts Time to hibernate

