Wes Magee
Early starters
The humped duvet's a blue whale
beached in a drift of pillows and sheets:
love's flotsam.
Now, downstairs at dawn,
they breakfast on croissants, tinned grapefruit,
toast, and plum jam,
he tousled and slobby
in the soiled t-shirt and baggy shorts:
she déshabillé,
fiery dragons emblazoned on a silk wrap.
Their bare toes touch. She props a heel
on his left knee.
Coffee mugs and juice cartons are shoved back
to make space for magazines and books
amid the table's clutter.
Hushed, they frown down at the small print
of train timetables and thick thrillers.
A knife stands in the butter.
Small sounds surround: tap's drip,
the electric wall-clock's tick, tick, tick,
rain against the windowpane.
Their love night is over. In an hour she'll be gone,
will text from the jolting carriage
of her south-bound train.
beached in a drift of pillows and sheets:
love's flotsam.
Now, downstairs at dawn,
they breakfast on croissants, tinned grapefruit,
toast, and plum jam,
he tousled and slobby
in the soiled t-shirt and baggy shorts:
she déshabillé,
fiery dragons emblazoned on a silk wrap.
Their bare toes touch. She props a heel
on his left knee.
Coffee mugs and juice cartons are shoved back
to make space for magazines and books
amid the table's clutter.
Hushed, they frown down at the small print
of train timetables and thick thrillers.
A knife stands in the butter.
Small sounds surround: tap's drip,
the electric wall-clock's tick, tick, tick,
rain against the windowpane.
Their love night is over. In an hour she'll be gone,
will text from the jolting carriage
of her south-bound train.
Page(s) 16
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