AFV

: when I get home from work we never talk. i find her laying on the sofa, watching TV, on mute. I put my stuff on the table; keys, cellphone, watch, inhaler. she raises her arm. she's alive. like every night. I go to the fridge to get a beer. open the beer and take a long, painful drink. now i'm ready to kiss her forehead. I do that. I reach for the remote and know that America's Funniest Videos is on. I drink. She puts her legs on my lap. I kiss her feet. Both. I turn the volume on. We laugh at some of the videos and sometimes look at each other while laughing. I love her. She yawns at every commercial cut. She cuddles herself. I drink that bottle empty. I stand up, gently enough to smell her and not wake her. I go to the fridge. Open another beer. This time I drink it slowly, in the kitchen. And I look at her legs. And her hair. And the way she hugs herself to sleep. We never talk. We know.