We've always slept on different continents,
a black ocean between us. I remember when
I could reach across that dark water, when
I could brush fingers against cloud-capped
shoulder blades and rearrange the map. Now,
great beasts inhabit that sea, fight their
territory wars and stretch onto our shores
with diplomatic aggression, affection, big
brown eyes & wagging tails. On clear days,
I can see you still, your soil softer than
it used to be, coastline crooked where one
monster or another has burrowed out a home,
and I watch you sleep, dreaming new worlds
on the other side of ours, uttering hushed
secrets I can't decrypt into our white sky
--& I smile, satisfied, untroubled by our
unbridgeable distance.