How can dolphins sleep
since without the sense
to breathe —
they suffocate.
Like the skip of beats
in narrowness of hearts,
these chests constrict.
I watch the undulating ripples
of your sleeping presence
and drunk with moonful sighs,
so close, you’re far away.
Cupid riding a dolphin by Peter Paul Rubens
Today it’s time for a Quadrille at dVerse. Toni hosts and want us to use the word skip. 44 words not less not more.
—
May 2, 2016
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Sigh. So gorgeous.
“drunk with moonful sighs”
oh, deep deep sigh at this. The last two lines – oh.my.goodness.
It appears those last couple of lines are show-stoppers! I concur! I also found the comparisons breath-taking, even ‘chest constricting!’
This is truly beautiful.
That line ‘drunk with moonlight sighs’ really is beautiful.
I really like the big questions in this poem. It makes you think, and deserves several readings. Great job.
Interesting collection of images seemingly unrelated and yet they go quite perfectly together.
Gorgeous.
Those last too lines… oh, my.
Drunk with moonlit sighs is worth the read!
I definitely love the last two lines!
I specially love: and drunk with moonful sighs ~
Love your response Bjorn ~
This is romantic but in a soulful, sad context. I love those last lines too!
Hmm. I found this quite interesting
oh my….this hits home. There are so many times when I awake and my spouse is sleeping beside me….I watch him and wonder where he is. Beautifully said.
Perhaps she’s swimming (or sleeping?) with dolphins…a lovely write!
oh, so romantic
Oh, another sigh and deep breath – lovely.
Such a tantalising sense of sweet romance. The touch of dolphins adds a wonderful spin.
Very sweet.
I enjoy your writings, Bjorn. Think I’ll check out diverse and give this a go 🙂
Such an interesting opening gambit, and how neatly you tied it to human emotion within the word limit.
So close yet far away…that certainly describes watching someone sleep, when they are off in some faraway fantasy of the imagination, and you are sleepless in Seattle…or Timbuktu.
“I watch the undulating ripples
of your sleeping presence”
What is is about watching a loved one sleep? So incredibly captivating. Those last two lines nail it. So close. so far… Beautiful.
Beautiful piece of poetry. I shall visit more often.
Your second tercet frightened me: I’ve suffered that only too often.
Lovely quadrille
“drunk with moonful sighs” beautiful I feel the pain in your poem. Nothing hurts like the separation of intimacy.
I watch the undulating ripples
of your sleeping presence
Sometimes there are occasions one has to stomach it. A sleeping loved one be best left alone!
Hank
So near but so far. I can feel love, longing, and timidity oozing from this lovely piece. Nice, Bjorn.
BTW, dolphinear [dot] com says,
“Dolphins have “solved” that (sleeping) by letting one half of their brain sleep at a time. This has been determined by doing EEG studies on dolphins. Dolphins sleep about 8 hours day in this fashion.”
..
“drunk with moonful sighs” — Loved your beautiful language that evoked sounds and a peaceful mood as I read — Thanks for sharing.
Loving this one–so close and so far. We just can’t quite share everything, can we?
Yes, what everybody else said. 🙂 Nice juxtaposition of dolphins and ‘your sleeping presence’, and lovely language throughout.
Ohhhh… so pretty. I have to look up quadrille again!
“the undulating ripples of your sleeping presence” – sigh: so tender. I thought the 44 word quadrille exercise was an interesting change of pace – at least for me. I’m so used to counting syllables in poetry … not words.