21
The Double Bed
I wake up, find you flat out on your back
arms across your chest like a cadaver in its casket
half awake, my lips against your neck
your still breathing and each breath
is like a snake coiled in its basket

I’m despondent, for a moment you were gone
and the corpse that lay beside me was a love fondly remembered
I check my pulse, that heart attack last year
left me shaken, you awaken, on that night in mid-September

you’ve awakened from a nightmare
with the details out of focus
I’d tried to hurt you, then you killed me
as the neighbours barely noticed

you awoke to tell the story
and we analyzed each minute
it’s distressing, we’re addressing
that to which there are no limits

The morning comes, my murder fades with sleep
coffee, orange juice, toast with jam – another benign morning
that moment when I thought you had found peace
has faded too, degraded you, come and went without warning

Two deaths: the first illusion, the second dream
of course things aren’t as they seem, while life continues bleating
but now we kill each other every night
dream and illusion the same thing
and these illusions keep repeating

You’ve awakened from a nightmare
not yet sure you’ve finished dreaming
I lie beside you, you feel threatened
while the twilights gently gleaming

was the man who almost killed you
was the man your dream did kill
just a figment, or my double
symptom of illness, act of my will
Guitare et voix: Jacob Wren
Enregistrement studio: Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (hotel2tango)