Underneath
the roar of my breathing,
more solid than the many thumps —
my heartbeat and its tributary pulses,
deeper than the image of myself
spread out along the sprawl
of my body,
is where I find my peace.
There is a quiet fire
that doesn’t even flicker
at the perturbation of yawns,
that isn’t damped
by the gathering of fog.
It warms my bones
and sets them secretly aglow
beneath my flesh,
around my silent core
And it will burn
throughout the hours of sleep,
delivering me sound
into the arms of dawn.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 19, 2013