Ocean

by COURTNEY LEBLANC

I’ve got insomnia
again. I lay awake
for hours, listening
to the fan whirl
as my thoughts swim
round and round to you.
You’re six hours
behind so when I can’t
sleep we text, the quiet
pinging of your incoming
message the whale song
I listen for. We tread
carefully but each message
has an undercurrent. We wade
deeper into these waters, aware
of the rip tide threatening below.
I split my life between two
oceans, split my body between
two pairs of hands – floating
toward the current, my heart
underwater, the hands
capable of saving
or drowning me.

Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) and The Violence Within (Flutter Press) and is an MFA candidate at Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Public Pool, Rising Phoenix Review, The Legendary, Germ Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Brain Mill Press, Haunted Waters Press, and others. She loves nail polish, wine, and tattoos. Read her blog at www.wordperv.com, follow her on twitter: @wordperv.