Sleeping with You by Ellen Bass

Sleeping with You

by Ellen Bass

Is there anything more wonderful?

After we have floundered

through our separate pain

we come to this. I bind myself to you,

like otters wrapped in kelp, so the current

will not steal us as we sleep.

Through the night we turn together,

rocked in the shallow surf,

pebbles polished by the sea.

This wonderful poem was published in Ellen Bass' book, Mules of Love (BOA Editions, 2002). And yes, of course I love the title of this book! You can buy it here.

So we've got three tercets (3-line stanzas), a conceit (extended metaphor), a poem beginning with a question (yea!), and lots of great word play (wonderful/floundered, kelp/sleep, pebbles/polished, etc.)

After that initial question, we are introduced by the speaker to the past pains she has had, and the past pains of her lover. We don't need details--we all have past pains, we can all relate. But that first line has the word "wonderful" in it, so the pain is just there in accentuate the joy. Yes, there have been bad things, but now . . .

"I bind myself to you"--Bass could have used any number of metaphors here. Otters is somewhat surprising but brilliant. They are freakin' adorable. We have all seen photos of them sleeping curled up together, so that second stanza is immediately understandable.

(What? You are not sure you have seen cute otters sleeping? Click here and here and here

and here.) They hold hands. They cuddle. And again, they are ADORABLE.

In the third stanza, the metaphor continues. The couple stay bound together through the night, turning throughout whatever the surf brings (maybe nightmares of those past pains? maybe sex before sleeping? maybe both?).

Either way, it has happened enough so that they are now polished and smooth and shiny, after spent much time being rocked by waves, just like pebbles.

If this is not one of the perfect poems to print out and attach to your anniversary gift/card the next time your anniversary rolls around, I don't know what is. Maybe an otter stuffed animal, the book discussed in the 4th link above, and Ellen Bass' Mules of Love would be the perfect anniversary gift! Think about it!