I think about making it a series

Enters
Turns head to view the entrant
Movement
Lowering to sit
Stare
– Keep going with what you’re doing.
Blink
– It’s alright. Go on.
Turns
Movement
Perhaps typing
Perhaps writing
Perhaps reading
Lean forward
Press lips to bare shoulder
Pause
Shifting of weight
– No no.
Inhale
– No.
Gentle shake of the head against the shoulder
— Are you sure?
– Yeah it’s fine.
Blink
– It’s fine, just… it’s really important.
— OK.
– OK.
Turn
I like writing
By hand, with a pencil for the aesthetics of the sound
– Um,
Pause
Inhale
Pause
Resuming writing
– I’m sorry.
Pause
Resume
Scratch scratch scratch across the paper
– I mean I know I haven’t done… anything.
Inhale
— I was going to say,
– It’s different. It’s not “Sorry I messed up,”
Pause
Pressing of the nose against the shoulder
– Not exactly.
Pause
Pencil down
– It’s weird right?
— Mmm.
Blink
— Not really.
Inhale
— I won’t force it from you though.
Pause
Stillness
The slow motions of breathing
– There’s just, I was thinking about a lot of things. About us. About you.
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
– A lot of things I didn’t see,
Quick inhale
– I’m not talking about our problems, they’re normal, and the way we overcome them. Just… things. About you. Things that I didn’t really understand for a long time, not even things that upset me or made me uncomfortable.
Long exhale
The tiny shiver
Clenched deeply within the chest
Inhale
– And now that I understand them, I realise a few things. Firstly that I know there will always be these amazing things to learn about you,
Stillness
Even in the breath
– and also that I wish I had understood them sooner than I did.
— Darling,
Shifting of weight
– No it’s OK, please. Just… let me stay here.
The side of the nose
Cheekbone
Corner of the mouth pressed to the skin of the arm
Inhale
Exhale
Hold
Hold the compressed lungs
Begin to clench the eyes shut but then release
Inhale
And the first tear
Moisture on the shoulder
Silent
Then the sniff
— Darling…
Pressing against the forearm
Shifting of weight
Movement
Then embrace
— Oh my love…
Quietly together
Lying still
Without words
And then sleep