did you know you snore?
of course not
you're dreaming of
birthday parties and
kitties and imagined
primal terrors too fuzzy
to do you real harm

your breathing is just
a bit too fast to rock me
to sleep, the rasp and whistle
of air through tiny nostrils
just irregular enough to
bring me back to
the room, the night,
the day we just had,
the trip your mom is on,
the pain in my knee
the long arc of your life
the rush of my days
spilling like coffee beans
from a rent sack

will there be a night when
I don't hear you
will my senses stop
reminding me that you are
breathing
somewhere
I hope
you
keep breathing
I need you to
keep breathing