The Cold Side of the Pillow

Poetry

Sep 25

The vacant pillow next to me
doesn’t make me feel bad
although it would be nice
to wake up to love on a
rainy, windswept Tuesday
in mid-November where
there was no urgency to
rush out of the house

The cold side of the pillow
is only a reminder of the
choices I continue to make
that suit where I am at
this point in my life as
an older gentleman
who is much more
comfortable in the cold

My pillow runs so hot
because my head is
always full of thoughts
and ideas and it has
trouble stopping in the
night because it dreams
in vivid color while
the other pillow waits

When I wake up and
see an unused pillow
I make a conscious
decision to swap it out
with my warm one
so the next night
I can dream freely
with a drop of coolness