brushing away

after sex

when my ear is pressed

to the skin above your heart

and your hand

is brushing the damp strands

of brown hair

sticking to my forehead

i begin to write

poems

in my thoughts

and tonight

i wonder

what you think

before your breathing thickens

before your body twitches in faint sleep

i wish

for you

that you could write

poems in your thoughts

because this is the first time

you have known something else

is inside of me

and in the coming months

you will brush away damp strands

of sick sweat

and kiss the scars

where they removed the lumps

and you will need

quiet release

© Julie Bolitho.“brushing away,” Poem. Bodies of Work. University of Cambridge Press: 2010, online edition found at: http://www.bodiesofwork.info/Contents.html