Skipping Steps

after Jean Valentine

I climb into our bed
covering myself in a sheet
like I wish to do in deep water
covering feet from whatever
lies beneath sleep     beneath
where I cannot see      and you
lay beside me   already breathing
more slowly   than before   already
unconcerned   with what’s below
like you’d skipped    the step prior
to snorkeling      where you take
a deep breath    look    and breathe

ξ

“Skipping Steps" was first published in Zone 3 (Spring 2019).

Jeremy Michael Reed is an assistant professor of English at Westminster College. His poems and essays are published in Still: The Journal, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Western Humanities Review, and elsewhere. He lives in Columbia, Missouri with his wife and daughter.

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