while you slept,
I walked the pebbled shore below the docks,
     and felt freshwater sting my face
    from unseen clouds;
    felt sea-tides rising, falling, rise
    to my feet, and breezes moved
    my hands along my sides.
and while you slept, I walked the pebbled shore alone.

while you slept,
I reached across the field of waist-high grass
    we used to dance through, sing to, love in,
    and tore a wildflower from the sandy earth,
    let it fall into the broken winds
    and greening waves
    and listened to the sky light on my skin
and while you slept, I reached across the field alone.

while you slept,
I counted stars and moons until they blurred
    and twinkled in the sky as phantom-discs
    but had only my hands on which to keep.
    they grew cold in the nighttime air
    and grew pale in the wash of moonlight
    and they are like your hands now,
and as you sleep, I count the multitude of stars...

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