Tag Archives: sleep

MORNING DOVE

Photo by Veronika Andrews on Pexels.com

Morning brings us mindless enterprise

until Brain sorts itself sorts itself out

and finds a side to lean on as

rational thoughts begin to unsteadily rise,

as do we, from beds draped in blankets

and dreams, soon lost in shallow mists.

uncertain what this new day will comprise.

We only awaken when the world makes sense again

and each moment of each hour of this day stops

being a devastatingly horrible October surprise.

Which may explain why so many refuse to awaken,

fearful of what the day may bring to their side.

Living in the dawn of denial and refusing to think

keeps nightmares hidden behind false pride.

Which may explain why so many fear being woke,

and despise those awake, yet steadier, than they are.

It is easier for some to remain in the dark ages,

unable to face each new day with hopeful anticipation.

The unstable on their feet, pushed around in misdirection,

bombarded steadily by false presentation on their way

to the kitchen from the bedroom to prepare for work,

which may or may not be securely theirs if AI has a say.

In darkness, they color outside the lines of common sense,

unable, and scarily unwilling, to follow a rational conversation;

or simply refuse to move an inch, holding on to the fence.

We all need a simple cup of coffee, for satisfaction.

We all need a moment, or two, of silent reflection.

We all need to accept our common imperfection.

We all need a personal course correction.

We all need to reassemble our sleepy thoughts

and start behaving as we ought.

We are stronger than we know.

We can stand on our own.

we can let fear go back to sleep

as we awaken on balanced feet

facing each new day.

That is no mean feat.

It was never meant to be.

We were made from and for love.

We are the morning, not the mourning, dove.

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

ONLY AUTUMN KNOWS

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

Only Autumn Knows where and when

she will end.

Each morning seems earlier than the last.

Sun sets earlier than summer-days past.

Dawn delays rising while I do not.

Sleep steals in easier despite afternoon naps.

Time ceases to be set by my clock.

Circadian rhythms have been unlocked.

I fall into Autumn’s wind-swept arms,

happily blown in, after the Equinox.

I rise in the dark to write poetry and prose.

What is revealed only Autumn knows.

Yawns precede each word and phrase,

happy to explore Autumn’s up-ending by-ways.

Photo by Fatih Gu00fcney on Pexels.com

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY

ZEN I.D.

Photo by Germar Derron on Pexels.com

The only escape

is to write your name backwards,

as you disappear.

Sleep cannot compare

when engulfed in a nightmare,

mocking exhaustion.

Sleepless nights unite

tortured souls in free nations,

sensing bombs dropping.

The enemy lurks

behind a fascist facade

we call government.

Overnight votes rule,

hidden by crushing nightmares,

in yours and my names.

The only escape

is to write your name backwards,

as you disappear.

Finally, sleep comes. 

Democratic socialists

take back our freedom.

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT

Photo by Khaled Akacha on Pexels.com

In the middle of the night 

when darkness curries favor

with sleeplessness and fright,

I wander room-to-room

in hopelessness that dawn

will come bearing anything 

more than false light.

Too many days of bold lies

called forth from the darkest 

spaces of twisted minds

force us all to walk in darkness,

and into exhausted days unable

to perform the simplest tasks,

weary beyond all telling,

silenced senses yelling,

deadened and unfeeling.

To feel would be to die,

or die trying

to make sense of such evil.

The cost of others’ greed is too high

for men and women of conscience,

of even Mother Earth herself,

to survive.

There is no answer

to the question, “why?”.

And so, I continue to roam 

dark spaces, seeking answers.

I am woke. I stay awake

to face dark days

and dark nights.

I roam looking for ways

to pull us all to safe spaces

where restful sleep may come.

Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Pexels.com

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

Place your shoes under the bed.

Where you go in your dreams

Is best walked barefoot.

Feel the surface you trod,hard or soft,

Rough or smooth,

Hot or cold.

Learn the truth, grounded and sure

So lies cannot find you unaware,

Unready, unable to discern

The truth you need to know

To find your way on ground that is real

And leads to the place you need to go.

A place you neither want nor expect

But need to be. The temple of honesty.

Barefoot. Grounded. Free.

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY

RISE UP

Photo by James Collington on Pexels.com

Early morning risers are a breed apart.

They insist upon rising in the dark.

Their tattered dreams soon forgotten

they move to uncover windows;

not to simply let in the coming light

but, to first, acknowledge the night.

Darkness holds little mystery

to those who accept the misery

of what they watched unfold the day before,

and to believe the new day’s light will restore

balance, fairness, wisdom, hope and more.

Surely, the sun will shine on goodness

and love will once more rise with sun’s rays?

Such hopes can only be born in the dark.

Once sun rises and bathes us in her light

we forget the need for change we felt,

we hungered for, we fought for through the night.

Like babes in dark wombs we struggle to alight.

We yearn to be free of darkness and held tight.

Such memories of those first moments

are waiting to be born now in this morn’s sunlight.

Those who wake and walk in darkness know, 

once more of us awake, all can soon be set aright.

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

DAWNING

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

I have been carried over mountains

dredged in gold

by sunlight’s curve of light

as dawn unfolds

and opens her arms,

and gently releases her hold

on earth’s many charms.

The wonders of my world shift

within my sights

in bits and pieces set adrift

until I string them together like jewels

to hang around my neck

and light the darkest days ahead.

Indeed, dawn’s delights

can lighten even the darkest nights

in waking dreams sensing the coming light.

Dawn works her tentative way

across this bleak space every day.

Dawn awakens an eagerness to find my place

among other beings also lit from within.

Together, we can light the entire world.

It is dawn. We have dawned. 

It is time to begin.

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY

INSOMNIA

Sleep catches me unaware

Reading in my chair.

A loud noise as a commercial airs

Awakens me from nightmares.

No, it is the news that intrudes

On waking dreams sharp and crude.

I have been awake more than I knew

Unable to tell what is untrue or true.

And so, I read some more

Of an entire reality to explore.

I try hard to understand and accept

A new reality in a democracy kept

Captive without due process of law

Which exposes all of our flaws.

Racism breathes deep and still

With a long-ignored strong will.

We too easily pretend

it has nothing to do with us, my friend.

Lie once and it becomes then

easier to lie again and again.

And we have lied for centuries now.

Shame beads sweat on every brow.

Cognitive dissonance

Makes us create distance

From truth, facts and connection.

Shamelessness offers protection.

Too many are willing to deny

What is clear to the clear-eyed.

I see no end in sight

And remain sleepless night after night.

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY

MORNINGS

Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

Is the first awakening any better than the last?

Or must we always yearn for what is past?

The sun breaks open the darkness we are closed within.

Even in darkness our light is never dimmed.

Must we compete, then with the light we face at dawn?

Must we shine brighter, hotter, higher, hour after hour

until exhaustion overtakes our effort to shine divine?

Finally, darkness comes to embrace us, calm us, take us

where we may dream of what will be, what was, what is.

Is the first awakening any better than the last?

Will the next awakening be even better than those past?

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY

DREAMS OF STATE

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Waking in the half-state

within the space where worlds collide

with no need to run away and hide,

where languages merge to help us realize

our old reality has solemnly died,

we are born anew and lifted high

above the horizon and into the sky

in the arms of the ripening sun

where all new life begins.

Every single day, we turn 

in the arms of stars to find our way.

How wild this earth-turn 

ride around the sun

across our galaxy spiraling wide

into a universe where silent winds blow.

Where we shall land we do not know.

On mornings like this we do not care.

We are content to fly on currents of air,

floating across places yet to be seen,

across new horizons and new sunrises

to worlds we have never been.

We find new courage to open our wings

and finally let our true hearts sing

in praise of the morning sky’s rising

after the night’s long-dreaming sights

to find ourselves newly alive.

We shout with joy, “What a ride!”

Leave a comment

Filed under POETRY