Tuesday, April 21, 2026

April 21: Earthly Bodies

 


We’re falling asleep 

side by side. 

I can touch 

his lower back, 

silky and broad 

across ligaments, 

a back that bears 

weight most days, 

mowing, carting

centimeters of century. 


I’ve watched him 

haul lumber through 

my sister’s backyard, 

jam box springs 

up too-narrow steps, 

and now, even in sleep 

his back spasming, 

tensing mid-dream, 

anonymous arrhythmia...


My own papery hand 

squares a patch of back, 

quilting, framing 

memory. Twenty years 

spooning and sprawling! 

Funny we land like this —

two un-done bodies, 

aligned, parallel, imperfect,

snuggled, singular. 


There must be 

a clearer definition 

for this existence: 

Synchrosoft. 

Flashfused. 

Sleepswept. 


Look, love, 

how we’ve become 

soft, spread out, 

in these earthly bodies, 

aging in this world 

without choice 

but with life, 

spooning, clung 

together


Written beside “Heavenly Bodies” by Alison Luterman

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