May 3, 2009

Andrew McCallum


endgame


the candle goes out
with a little smoke flourish
nudging me awake

I must have fallen
asleep, I mumble, my mouth
still full of slumber

I sort through our limbs
deciding which are mine, yours
shove feet into shoes

I should go, I say
swaying among the bottles
rolled drunk on the floor

rubbing your eye and
temple with your ring finger
mmm, you agree

you return to sleep
slipping sleek as a selkie
back into the sea

fathoms multiply
between us as you plunge down
to the ocean floor

the click of the latch
as I leave closes more than
a door behind me

CP

Andrew McCallum lives in southern Scotland. His work has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, and has received several awards.

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