Okay, so I said fiction was next on the agenda, but I really like this poem and wanted to share it.

A Dream of You

When I dream of you,
you smell sharply of valor,
and I taste the air around
us, finding it sweet and tame.

How unlike the last time we
saw each other, in waking life,
and the atmosphere leaked
grief, and I inhaled the scent
of damask roses and cruelty
that emanated from your hot skin.

I wake and find sea shells
littering the bed, the dull sound
of surfing echoing in my ears.

I pretend I am not afraid of water.
I pretend that you still love me.