“Even Though Married” by April Salzano

your skin responds as quickly to my touch
as it did five years ago. I wake you
at 6 a.m., my way of apologizing for being
too tired at midnight. The house is breathing
with the sleep of my kids. The boundary
between our bodies evaporates in quiet
insistence. It’s true what they say,
a routine develops, a series of steps
in a process, perfected.
Even though we know the ending
to this movie, we watch it again and again
each time discovering something we had
not felt that way before. This morning
before the light, it is the way you hold me
like you have loved me your whole life.

For more poems by April, purchase FIVE Vol. 1 No. 10.