awakening from my rest, 

i feel a presence beside me. 

a body as warm as freshly molded clay,

tangled between my arms  

quite peacefully, at ease, 

like they are silently meditating. 

their breath like water, 

each exhale streams through 

the air as softly as a breeze, 

and i soon, find myself

mimicking, their quiet elegance.

i wonder how long they’ve been

there, and how long it’s been since  

i left the conscious plane. 

how’d i even get here? 

i begin to think. 

before a slight movement rustles the sheets,

gliding their curly hair across my skin

with a silkiness so familiar, 

it recalls me.  

i lift my ahead above my chest  

to see their face, 

lit up with warm features,  

full lips, and a beauty  

that unnerves me.  

asleep, but radiating.  

a person, i remember as vividly 

as the day we first met, 

coincidentally, at a campus event,

two years ago, on a hot summer day,

sweat on our faces with the sheen of

a mod podge glaze.  

i got their number that day, 

but it was only for a brief moment,

before we drifted away.  

just as coincidentally, 

we met again, four months ago

in an elevator to our rooms, 

same building, nearby floors,

on a ride that was awkward,  

yet somehow comforting enough  

for a rekindling.  

but like before, it was brief, 

and since then, they’ve  

been living in my dreams, 

as a phantom of withheld affection, 

haunting me in my waking hours, 

across the street, in the arms of another.  

how’d i get here? 

from a bar to these sheets. 

i ponder, but i release 

the thought to savor the memory.  

i used to imagine their affection, 

now i feel it pressed beside me— 

a manifestation of bliss, 

in the shape, of a person. 

with lavender lush in my veins, 

i burrow my head into their neck, 

rather slowly, becoming one with them. 

so, i let the light of my eyes dwindle into

night, relaxing my heartbeat into a  

rhythmic metronome 

sewn from a ballad of romance, 

before lucidity catches me again. 

clasping my hands with theirs, 

the sky, gradually brightens, 

into a toothy smile, windows, 

collections of morning dews, 

ushering the sun to creek its 

way into our room 

a golden stencil on their face 

as they awake. 

i watch their eyes flutter into a crease,

and so does mine, as the sun lifts its

chin, to perch into place. 

dusk now replaced, 

the skies revive oceanic tints,

and i get caught in the distance— so overwhelmed with

affection, 

i curl back into them 

reaching across the sheets, 

but i feel a coldness that alerts me.

it’s empty, and likewise, their print. 

i search the room for remnants, 

but the phantom has left no plasma from

it, only the moonlight limerence, 

our connection resides within.