Stephen Moran has published poetry in Day of the Flying Leaves (2021) and fiction in The London Silence and Other Stories (2004). He has also edited or co-edited several anthologies of fiction and of poetry. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, he now lives in Harrow on the Hill, London. He can be found online at www.SJMoran.com

I Can’t Go First Because

I can’t go first because
who will tell you to stop shouting,
you’re having a nightmare,
why are you shouting and screaming?
(God almighty!)

Who will learn when you
command classrooms in your sleep
and smile when you tell Farukh
to come up for his copybook?

Who will rock the mattress gently
when you murmur “help me, help”
and who will hold your hand
under the duvet and relate
the temperature to the night?