Pulling Up The Covers

when I first
slept alone again
after so many 
years next to you,
my broken heart 
insisted I quickly 
make the bed 
the moment I 
woke each morning,
so I wouldn’t hurt
each time through
my bedroom 
noticing how 
perfectly your side
had stayed 
neatly made 
during the empty night,
while my side looked
like a battle
had been waged,
fighting off morning
all through the dark
that went before it. 

it took a long time
of making 
my side of the bed
before my reason for
pulling up the sheets
plumping the pillows 
and sitting my 
teddy bear just so
shifted to a pleasure
in the neatness of it all,
wrapping up my rest
in the beautiful
rise of the sun,
instead of the chore
of pulling the covers
over my broken hearted
empty bed. 

~ cj 2012.06.28