NOCTURNE

Will Steele

Two boys are kissing in the dark,
All their friends have wandered off to bed,
The playlist is on its fourth loop.

Two boys are kissing in the dark,
One of them isn’t a boy,
The other has a girlfriend, somewhere.

Two boys are kissing in the dark,
Confused and reeling under feather touches,
Finding solace between stolen breaths.

Two boys are kissing in the dark,
Exchanging rings and necklaces,
Skin-warmed steel weighing heavy.

Two boys are bruising in the dark,
Desperate for a reminder of each other,
As long as it hurts tomorrow.

Two boys are dying in the dark,
Terrified, of the light, to stop,
To be anywhere else.

Two boys were kissing in the dark,
Sunlight has crept in under the blinds.