Tonight's Poet Corner: All By Myself

All By Myself
by Belinda Roddie

lying naked on top of the covers
I am exposed
to wandering hands
and wandering feet
finding every bump and divot
on the road of my skin
my personal topography
eroded by personal touch

I am alone
and afraid
even when you are here
even when your breath
stings the rims of my nostrils
I am alone
and afraid

feeling the June breeze
against my nipples
I hope to God that you won't
come home tonight
that you'll be too drunk to find your keys
or too smitten with the bartender
to leave before five AM
the calm is uncommon
I embrace the reality of silence

I am alone now
but not afraid
it makes a world of difference
when you aren't here
to stifle my own flesh
I am alone now
but not afraid