If You Get Well What Will Keep You Up At Night by Jake St. John & Jenn Knickerbocker

If you get well

what will keep you 

up at night

maybe the thought

of you 

maybe my hand

upon your cheek

barren 

by the lack

of tears

like the drought

that has consumed me

I'll bring you water

I'll quench your thirst 

let us become one

in this moment 

and swallow life 

in great gulps

as I sit beside 

your bed 

and think 

to younger days

when nights 

were longer 

and mornings

were bright

and Death

was not 

staring me 

down.

Jake St. John spends his nights in a cabin on the edge of the woods. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Night Full of Diamonds (Whiskey City Press, 2021), Snow Moon (Holy & Intoxicated Publications, 2019) and Lost City Highway (A Jabber Publication, 2019). His poems have appeared in print and online journals around the world. 

Jenn Knickerbocker is a writer, a mother, and a teacher. You can find her on a forest path or sitting fireside during her free time.