Fold-Out Bed Poem by Raj Dronamraju

During the hot summer months in a one bedroom apartment
We would sleep in the cooler living room
Pulling out the couch into a fold-out bed

Through a thin mattress, the metal spine of a fold-out bed would poke me in the back every time I turned over
But the choice of two beds made me feel elevated
Elevated through the ownership of two beds

Yes to forever, no to mortality
Different living, different place, different people
The same impatience and you talk too much

Now I live in a house with a couple of beds in a couple of bedrooms
And that makes for a kingdom ruled by appreciation
Benevolent monarch lording over the spoils of hard work