nocturne

"Sleeping Couple" by Ivan Koulakov

it is that time of night

when i withdraw quietly

inside myself

and i go in silence

and rest my head

upon my pillow

and he comes in silence

and rests his head

upon his pillow

that lies at my pillow’s side

and he breathes in shallow draws

and troubles my soul’s harmony

and he turns slightly to one side

and disturbs my body’s repose

and i turn slightly to one side

and look out of the window

into the nebulous night

and i begin

with my nocturnal hallucinations

once more

and the trees are deep

and the sky is low

 and the moon is lackadaisical and alone

and the floor is carpeted with blossoms

iridescent and shaped like stars

 and my candle flickers and shortens

and the rose petals flutter on the rose

and i hear your breaths deepen and slow

and the sky splits open

like the flanks of a tender wound

and the rain rains

and the stars fall out of the sky

and i twist my head

and lay my pulsing lips

upon your murmuring eyes

and your opaque lips unfold and pull me in

and i plummet into the length of your shadow

and your heart is pillow

and my head is cloud

and breaths no longer trouble harmony

nor thoughts disturb repose

and time dissolves like vertigo

and i dream that i am painting my lips

vermilion black

and that i am flying with paper wings

clasped to my shoulder blades

lest wax wings melt and i fall

and i dream that icarus did not die

but sleeps on the bed of the sea
and that morpheus sleeps at his side

and together they dream our fates

and in a lapse of dream

they will turn slightly to one side

and that is when storms will arise