All praise the count of two by Lesley Curwen

All praise the count of two

each twosome ever rolled

   in duvet’s forest-cool

      each quirk slant crooked pair

         of grown and broken bodies

              unlikely               matchless                 twos

          each nestled arm and neck

        breast walled on clavicle

    each warm-wound breath

 spread in honeyed spoon

all praise two laced in sleep                skin’s love of other skin

                           the fortress of held hands        

Lesley Curwen is a poet and broadcaster from Plymouth. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has two pamphlets out in 2024 from Hedgehog Poetry Press and Dreich.