Tag Archives: sleeplessness

SLEEP

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Bodies and words awake at 4 a.m.

have no respect for the woman I am.

A review of conscience 

is all well and good.

It reminds me of all that I should.

But, forgets who I am

and that I am doing 

all that I could,

and not doing 

all that I would

if I were not who I am.

Too tired, too little, too late, 

thoughts fly sky high

as life passes me by.

Two women sit here together,

the me and the I.

One who knows her self, 

a self which few surmise.

The other one who shares

her thoughts, to her surprise.

No rest this dark night.

Tomorrow comes with the light.

I sit in the darkness

and wait for the sun to rise.

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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.

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FUTURE WAITS

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Future refuses to talk.

She holds her cards close.

No expression crosses her face.

Her fierce calm holds us in place.

We gamble our fortunes, our lives,

within her unfathomable space.

Withholding breath we wait

to discover our curious fate.

“Play the cards you have,” 

she says,“before it is too late.”

The game here now will last until

each card has been played.

Holding onto cards 

means new presents are delayed.

The young know this better

than their elders do.

The young play with greater abandon,

unconscious of the heavy stakes

that keep my eyes open all night through, 

awake, until light from a new day

through the closed blinds seeps through.

A new day.

A new game.

Time to play.

Future cuts the cards.

No time to waste.

Vote!

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