I.
Piercing black eyes –
Onyx arrowheads spinning forward –
Say nothing.
Always nothing, always forward
With only the occasional smile.
Laughter, friendship, ad jokes are allowed
But only until departure,
At which time silence ensues;
Silence and emptiness having been full –
Full of what? Full of happy? Full of sad? Full of caring?
Full of that which must be suppressed, ignored when again united.
Back – embrace – talk –
And then we head upstairs?
More talking –
Things get real.
  Emotions expanding, honesty stirring.
Come here and let me hold you
While you grapple with your worst.
Silence, comfort, hand-on-hand
“It’s getting late.
You can stay so that you don’t disturb your roommate.”
II.
And now something has changed.
The air is tense and arrowheads
Are shot from distance –
Face-to-face –
And hit enough to shake,
For this archer is a he,
A he who more specifically
Dumbfounds and puzzles, yet compels
And I don’t want to leave.
The bow of his words resonates within my ears.
There is a want but it is a can’t,
And I have to leave
But the next day when I see him
And day melts into night:
This time I ask to stay,
Spilling excuses to him, stumbling,
That disguise my desires as conventional reason.
We change our clothes and minds
And lie down for the night.
III.
There is only one pillow
And yet two mattresses.
There is an open window
Spilling light into the dark.
The chilled night wind is howling
While the room bears space for more.
All the while we are burning
Lying closer than before.
Chests presses, flesh as well –
An entanglement of legs and limbs
Links two together through the night:
So warm that it is hot.
I can trace your torso, body, collar bone, and cheeks,
Rubbing lips with finger tips alone –
Hush, heart! This is far enough.
Skin inter-radiates, unsteady breath mingles,
But now it’s time for bed.
IV.
Man in bed is different
From man in common day.
Man in day wears a broad smile
And likes to laugh with a hearty laugh
And man likes to talk of his endeavors
And man glows.
Man in day is bold in movement,
Broad in speech, modest in self,
And yet self-preserving.
Man acts and man observes,
Studying to understand. Man keeps curiosity to his chest,
But man reveals that chest in bed.
Man is strong in day and revels in that strength,
But thinks nothing of gentile hands in bed
For man in bed is delicate.
I wonder,
Do I dare disturb the universe?,
While man alters the world with warm fingertips in bed.
Man speaks softly –
Each words holds more intent –
And his small smile shines bright in darkness;
Man in bed does not need to show teeth,
Curvature is enough.
Eyes that sparkle like mica
Sink into mine.
Man in bed is humble in intention:
Release of breath with amusement and contentment
And arms that won’t let go.
Man in bed is softer still,
And yet harder than man in day may be.
Tired bodies press in conform
And I, blushing, feel your c***
Move against me in our non-REM sleep.
Heart rates race,
But it’s time to get some sleep.
In the middle of the night
With a body next to his,
Man in bed feels perfect –
Different because only I get to see this man in bed.
V.
Each time man in bed wakes up,
It’s a new, beautiful story.
When man climbs into bed with you
It’s hard to not smile.
By lucky chance I wake up when he does
And eyes at 3AM meet.
Eyes share a fleeting gleam
And close again to get some sleep.
Man in bed exchanges words –
Secrets dared not spoken in day,
But man in bed keeps secrets.
I want to know them all,
But never will –
Never will be able to.
Man in bed rubs my back,
Kisses forehead,
Holds hand,
And shivers at touch.
At 4AM, 5AM, man in bed controls my hands
And by 8AM is sleepy, wake though,
Because eventually the sun rises,
And man in day whispers “Good-morning”.
One more time –
Let me have one more time where –
I share one more secret with this man in bed.
Unspoken.
And then we rise.
And then we stretch.
And now bed is empty
And I don’t want to leave.
And now it’s 9AM.
One last smile, one last embrace, one last good-bye.
Unspoken.
And now the door is open, and now I walk away.
Man in bed sleeps while I leave man in day.

(By 11PM there are endings
And we let it all begin again.)