When a bed starts out as a crib
And we are left alone to watch mobiles and listen to
The stars
When we get our first bed of our choosing
One that we spend teenage nights dreaming
A bed with just me, sleeping, picking a favorite side
When there is no one else there to crowd me

When does a bed become empty?
When the isolation of self discovery makes us
Aliens, and there is no one else of our kind?
When the unfounded loneliness, that had been buried
Under heavy blankets called "comforters" that were anything
But comforting
When did my bed become lonely?

When did my bed become empty?
Empty even when I lay, spread and stretched to cover
As much square footage, my not so square figure can cover
When, no matter what book or movie or dream may come
You cannot come to me, and so, no matter how hard I wish
The fact, being, bitter and true and painful
My bed is empty, without you