11 PM

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12 AM

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1 AM

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2 AM

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“You know I love you, right?”

I find myself staring at the ceiling as the silence that filled the air of the darkened bedroom breaks.

Typically, I never sleep lying on my back. It feels too much like being dead.

Yet here I am.

“And I’ll always be here. I’m not going anywhere.”

I let the silence slowly return to the room. A long minute, or several, passes.

A distant car alarm sounds and holds half my attention for a time, but it passes, as all things do.

“I know.”

I roll over, shut my eyes, and wait for sleep to take me.

You ever stand in the shower

Staring at the wall

And turn the heat up

Because the water’s just not warm enough

And you stare at the wall

You could shampoo up, now

But the water’s just so cold

So you turn the heat up

And stare at the wall

Not that you really see the wall, anyway

But you’re in no hurry

And the soap’s untouched

So you turn up the heat

Because the water’s just so cold

You’re just so cold

And the steam is just so cold

So you turn the heat up

And the wall’s not there

And the water’s not there

And you’re not there

I mean, not really there

And you turn the heat up

Except the handle won’t turn anymore

So you just stand there

And stare at the wall

Just so

Cold

Hello, Me

The other Me

The Me in the mirror

How you’ve grown

How you’ve aged

Let me help you with that

Let me trim you up

Can’t have Me looking disheveled

Can’t have Me looking homeless

Goodbye, Me

The other Me

The Me in the mirror