And I in My Bed Again

Last night
                     tossed in
my bed
                     the sound of the rain turned me
around,
                 a leaf
in a dried gully
                            from side to
side,
            the sound of the rain took me
apart,        opened to                 what is it?
breath caught in memory of
a deep sweetness
                                     that sound
                                     unceasing
delicate,                the wetness running
through my body
                                    It might be nighttime
                                    in a forest hut,
the rain constant
                               in little rivulets
splashing,
                          at times uncertain—
safe in each other's arms,
                                               the rain sheltering
us       a depth opening
bottomless to a terrible sweetness,
                                                    the small rain
shaking us in our bed
                                              (the terror)
whispering
                            End of a season,
                            wind from the west
new york, 1982

Copyright Credit: Hilda Morley, "And I in My Bed Again " from To Hold in My Hand: Selected Poems, 1955-1983. Copyright © 1983 by Hilda Morley.  Reprinted by permission of The Sheep Meadow Press.
Source: To Hold in My Hand: Selected Poems, 1955-1983 (The Sheep Meadow Press, 1983)