Rest

At the end of the long day

may you retreat to your bed

to find your place

patiently warmed by your lover’s soft body,

your worries slipping off

like a satin sheet

pooling to the floor

before disappearing

in the cracks between boards

and the small space under the door,

where a faint light seeps through (just barely),

a reminder of tomorrow

and its new-day problems that will surely come.




Tonight is for sleeping, my dear.

Now, snuggle against your lover.

Pace your heart to the sound of slowed breath,

and settle in arms grown strong by commitment,

sagely softened by compromise,

weathered, not weakened, by things they, too, could not hold forever.

Trust in their promise,

in this moment,

and allow yourself rest.

By Kim Walters for T.J.R., August 2023