Downstairs my brother
quietly plays the keyboard
its voice dances
through the floorboards
into my bed, where it
pushes me from slumber

An unexpected nap
I wake up with a novel
held to me like a baby, suddenly
remembering how my eyes became
too heavy to finish the chapter -
even accidentally I become exhausted
closing things before I finish them

I have tried asking my anger
to give back my ability
to be open and to love -
she guards them more

she pushes them into
the lacuna that is my heart -
that space that accepts only
my blood and breath
and even still, rhythmically spits them out