Your breathing fills the room
Your breathing and the ceiling fan
The rise of your chest is a metronome
Even the deaf could keep a steady beat

I wish I slept so easy,
But my thoughts keep me awake
The moon shines through our window
Back dropped by stars

In the morning, I tell you
How I think stars are lonely,
Pressed to the sky in far away galaxies
You just smile over your newspaper

-
In car rides I press my face
To the glass, wide-eyed like a child
I hug my knees and my sneakers
Leave dirt smudges on your leather seats

You never say anything, and the radio
It fills the void between us
I'm not mad at you, I'm just busy
Writing poems in my head about clouds

And tree tops that meet power lines
And crooked fence posts and
Sharp curves on unlined roads
You turn the radio up

-
Ancient Egyptians believed the sky
Was a woman who holds the Earth
And she wears a long dress of stars
That only the moon can bring to light

I tell you this story as I
Fold strips of paper into tiny
Fragile paper stars; I string them
Across the doorway to our bedroom

-
The only time I ever cried
Was when my dog died
He never had a funeral,
Because there was no body

I've been to funerals and the smell
Of sweet carnations can still haunt me
But only his memory, his warm brown eyes
Can make me grieve for such a loss

You hold me, sometimes, when I
Remember his black fur and dusty scent
You let me cry, even though
He's been gone for years

-
I want to buy an old car and
Learn how to drive stick shift
And drive, just drive until
The power lines stop tracing roadsides.

I'll lay on the hood at night
In the cool, Arizona desert
And the sky will be blanketed with
Tiny stars/satellites/airplanes

I'll make wishes on them
For my friends and strangers
For you. For love.
For my dog to come back

-
I tell you I want to be a star
And you smile, over your newspaper
You never take anything I say
Very seriously

You say I'm cute
And give me that smile
And leave me feeling lonely
I guess that's how cute feels

-
Over the sound of you breathing
I whisper that I would make
The best star in the sky
And that I wish I slept so easily