One day of heaven

Amber morning spills in, spotlight drenching two dozing lovers in bed, side by side.

Day is broken in like new boots, tentative and blistering to tread side by side.

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One lover stirs first. Two lips, three seconds, a kissed forehead, and five minutes brewing

his caffeinated love potion for a small world. Grounds: soaked, coaxed, filtered side by side.

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Two stare at two, back-to-front in glass over the sink, caught in the domestic daze

of this intimate minty routine, grinning and clean. No word unsaid, side by side.

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Marmalade, oats, Marmite on toast, blueberries pressed, clementine undressed, and green tea

with jasmine scent to wash down the feast. Give us this day our daily bread, side by side.

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Two thumbs, four thumbs, teeth for a tough one. Cracking pistachio shells, discarding two

husk halves to savour salt green core, woody and raw. The lovers are fed, side by side.

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Sun salutations and new occupations: warrior, dancer, child. Hands meet at

heart centre, a prayer. May there be peace here, peace there, peace to replace dread, side by side.

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Come September, the pair should be loving and living in sin. She already has

her key to move in, her keyboard, her books, her art on the wall. Soon wed, side by side.

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Spinning through names for a seraphim child, unborn, inconceivable almost. Land

on Dahlia with contented hum and buzz... but he's seen how she bled, side by side.

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She says, it feels like I'm playing pretend, she says, I can't talk but I want it to

end. A pause, a squeeze of her hand, you don't need to hide with me, he's said, side by side.

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Water rumbles and rolls in a pan, ready to receive dinner for two. Season

with heavenly gestures of lazy loving, chopping broccoli's head, side by side.

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By the light of wax and a lit wick, she paints his face with honey, fingers dripping

and sticky with golden residue. Twenty minutes, instructions read, side by side.

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He reads a chapter aloud, his head rests on her breast while the novel hovers in

hands held upwards from his chest. All was well, in the end, and back to bed, side by side.