Breathing Poem by Jasmina Tacheva

You didn't need to tell me
you have found another lover -
I heard it in your breathing
when you were sleeping next to me -
the sudden gasps of untried pleasures
the uneven heartbeat and
unconscious sighs - I knew they're not
for me and blinked my tears back
lest I wake you up, but couldn't turn
my head away and close my ears,
no, I chose to keep on listening
because even though your breath
got stolen from my own bed,
I cannot live without it, the way it
keeps me up at night, watchful,
hoping it would come back carried
by a fortuitous nocturnal wind next fall.