The truth is lying on the bed sheet
covered by the duvet
It is hugging her back touching the vertebrae
He lets out a sigh
she flicks her big toe against the next toe –
hard so that the bed vibrates
which means – has come to mean over fifteen years –
that she can’t sleep – won’t sleep until they are
closer to the part of the sheet covered by the duvet where
they will try not to forget each other.
She touches the truth
when he gets up for water –
it doesn’t shudder – stays there straighter, stiffer
Now he hugs his own body
holding the parts he believes –
no he knows make him male and stronger
and she feels the bed’s sharpness,
jerks with a chest –
just enough so he thinks she is sobbing and
the truth is still lying on the bed sheet covered by the duvet where
they will try not to forget each other.