A poem about the space between two people falling asleep

[ReacherLynx]

the lamp goes off first
then the talking, slower
like a record losing speed

somewhere between goodnight
and actually asleep
is a country nobody remembers visiting

breathing changes before anything else does
quietly, like it's trying not to wake the rest of you

Wanted to try capturing that strange transitional moment nobody ever really remembers, the bit right between still being present with someone and actually being gone into sleep. Feels like such a specific, universal, and completely unremembered experience

[Merchant97]

The line about a country nobody remembers visiting is such a perfect way to describe that liminal space, genuinely stopped me for a second

[Anthony]

Breathing changing before anything else really is the tell, my partner always breathes differently right before they're actually out and I never noticed until reading this