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Photo by bharath g s on Unsplash

Poetry | July/August 2021

Insomnia

By Marie Gauthier

Often I wake to the sound
of his pacing downstairs, stalking 

sleep from room to room, water running
in a glass, dishes clinking in the sink.

Back when I smoked, I'd rise too,
any excuse to glow in the dark.

Late summer nights, I'd kick 
my legs over his, nude

beneath my night shirt, letting the tide
of his voice wash over me.

Specters billowed from my cigarette 
out the open window, a generously

animate moonlit float 
carrying off our words as it drifted.

These days, hitched, child-bound, 
strapped for time, my sleep 

is a noun that needs protecting.
I pull the covers close

while he stirs his 3 AM polenta,
spare my feet the sand 

on the floor, the memory 
of salt in the air.


5 replies on “Insomnia”

Prudence M. Wholeysays:
July 21, 2021 at 6:40 pm

Absolutely wonderful!

Reply
Jen Halesays:
July 22, 2021 at 6:28 pm

Lovely!

Reply
Mary Beth Hinessays:
August 25, 2021 at 5:46 pm

Gorgeous poem! It captures, perfectly and heartbreakingly, the changes in a couple’s love relationship that come with a baby. The line breaks, the imagery, the word choice—all so well done! Thanks for sharing!

Reply
Barbara Andersonsays:
August 26, 2021 at 9:10 am

Awesome Marie!

Reply
Lesley-Anne Evanssays:
September 7, 2021 at 9:11 pm

So beautifully crafted, each stanza, line break, the meanings I find because you so carefully placed this word here and that word there. Thank you, dear poet. Thank you.

Reply

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