Lonely in Sleep

I don't want to fall asleep tonight

For fear that if I do

It will only extend the distance between the last time I felt your lips pressed against mine

And the next

As if staying awake keeps the memory more alive, burning bright within my mind

So real

So vivid

So close to me I can reach out and

Touch it

Grab it

Grab you

In the middle of the night

Reach for you in the middle of sleep

Reassured by the rising and falling of your sleeping form next to me

If I go to sleep tonight

There will be only emptiness

Occupying the spaces both next to

And within me