The Sweetest Kind of Night

I admit, I love to lie by someone as they fall asleep,
to hear their cautious breath turn to an unrestrained rhythm,
like a perfect prayer, to hear their chest exhale and swell
like a silent promise of life, to listen so intently to their heartbeat,
pulsing, like an ancient lullaby, and then slowly,
to realize your heart is beating as well, cautiously at first,
but later breaking, into a coaxing surge,
much like the hushed flapping of a giant bird's wings,
yet as calm as the sun in August.

~Erin Agee