"You can stay,"
He whispers in my ear,
half asleep with his arms curled around me
while the movie plays.

"Please stay."
There's no desperation,
just a simple request
from a man almost gone
and too warm
to want to sleep alone.

I have almost drifted off myself,
curled in his lap.
His hands,
his voice,
they almost persuade me.

"Come on,"
Says a different voice,
an awake voice,
and my roommate pulls me to my feet.



When I hug him good-night,
he lingers.