Winter Days - Rondeau

She sleeps through when he wakes on winter days;  
But that's because she's miles away; it's dark  
Where she is resting; and he cannot gaze  
Across the distance; she won't hear the lark  

That drove him from his bed: it's song was stark:  
It made him think of how her breathing slows,  
When he has her bent over and he'll mark  
Her backside with a belt; she'll count the blows  
 
And each one helps her sleep - that's how it goes,  
When she is on her own and lost in dreams;  
And every reverie he has soon sews  
A patchwork fantasy; so her mind seems  
 
At one with his, although the night still leans  
Over her shoulder, even as she sleeps  
And, in the darkness, he knows what it means  
To lose her thus; although, he thinks she'll keep  
 
His worries and his cares, for they lie deep  
Within her psyche; where they can't escape;  
But, while she rests,  he'll think of tears she'd keep  
To realise his girl is there to ache  
 
For more use and abuse; he will just take  
His time in contemplating the sun's rays,  
Emerging after dawn, so he can make  
Her sleep through, when he wakes on winter days.