companion piece

try to use something
more gentle than
guns and fire
to describe the way
you feel after a shared
sleepless night —
it is not always a struggle
no matter how sore you are
in the morning

there are things to be said
for sunrise and cool bedroom air
things to be said for short sleep
and long waking

this talk of taking aim
and waiting for
the smell of smoke
may make a cocked and loaded
initial sense
but not for what happens when
the guns are laid aside
when the duel is done

there is a
peace between us
that was always there
waiting to be
observed