Ever reach for love and clutch only night?
Lost deep inside my bed at night, I dreamed;
in the dark, I reached for your love and screamed.
Your affairs festered inside my nightmares,
but I lived in hope and prayed I would cope.
Haunted by the absence of your warm face,
I was too keen to have them take your place.
I laid all my bets on men I hadn’t met;
strangers on the street, and hoped they wouldn’t cheat.
My shame covered me with the filth you sowed,
and sorrow embraced me while my tears flowed.
I ran a thousand miles for just one smile;
a moment of warmth to end the torment.
—H, scribe of sleepless yearning
