in a stretch of dependence, i let myself into you.
holding you, with your jubilant smile,
is immeasurable.
speaking in moderated tones, with gentle,
we fall asleep together.

despite your insistence on keeping me near
you do not drive me away.
your archaic virtue, the unworldliness
is undoubtably endearing

the soft of your back is spongy, delicate.
so malleable.
vulnerable.

i can’t imagine
that i was once
you.
we were all once you.

i am afraid of rolling over you in your sleep
the air in my lungs crushing both of us.
you are hardly a person just yet.
miniature
just enough to mollycoddle

when i try to roll away from you
to put you down
you cling to me, tiny hands clutching and pulling
at my hair
my skin

i realize then, what it is like– even if, for a transitory moment
what it is like to be truly needed.
in that moment, you, the most susceptible
needed me
right
then.

stricken with this bit of humanity,
i awakened.