Ode to your bed

The evening flows in
through the windows,
and you go to your bed
to journey through the night.

Ship of dreams
and candlelight voyage,
sailing under starry skies,
your bed is where you go
to give yourself,
unguarded and exposed,
to your lover,
or to sheltering sleep.

Your high, sturdy bed
remains unchanged,
night after night,
standing on its sturdy legs,
while you shift and alter
determining who
it will hold tonight.
Will you bring it passion or peace?
Insomnia or repose?
Will you emerge restless or rested,
anxious or at ease?

Sometimes your bed
is a valley in bloom,
with soft grass and flowers,
and other times it’s a beach.
Your sheets are the waves
of a warm ocean
that rock you to sleep.

On those fortunate nights
when we go to sleep together,
the same bed that supports us
carries us through different
journeys and dreams,
and you wake, from time to time,
to listen to me breathe.
And when the morning finally comes,
and I wake and reach out
to find your familiar form,
I discover you’re already up,
already dressed and at the table,
typing out hellos
to greet the new day.