legs

oh, I know
                   that flush
               that glint,
           that close-by sit
     those footsteps down the
                                              hallway,
that gently euphoric
                                  emergence from the shower

that suppressed
       flutter through normality

the waking up late, warm in the cold
that soft melting in the eyes
that lovely crash of
                                juxtapositions
oh, yes
             I know it

that (after) separation
that trip to the laundry
I've held it;
                  I've hung out
               someone else's
                                             bed sheets

That beautiful quiet, that
              shared omission

that piercing stillness --
I've also held it

that
        space alone, afterwards

that fumble with the light/s on
that listening for the timing
that 7am escape trick, I've also
                                                  done it.

I've spent Mondays making sticky pancakes
and Sundays watching
                                      bad films
just to hold some skin afterwards
                                                       - trust me, it's
                     worth the weight.

I can't help but indulge in your
                                                   present-nostalgia

I can't help but want

to re-live, to unfold
my parallel past