Sweet, warm dark of night <br />pull me in and hold me tight. <br />Help me fight this awful scourge <br />of sleeplessness, and the urge <br />to give up, get out bed, <br />to live the life of one Dead. <br /> <br />My mind and mouth are disconnected <br />as is my soul, it seems infected <br />with some loopy, crazened curse <br />from which I cannot wrangle verse <br />of any meaning or consequence, <br />much less poetic 'brilliance'... <br /> <br />Sing-song, sing-song - that manic rhythm <br />drives my brain, my hand, my very innards. <br />In fact, this morning I awoke <br />with these first lines like a choke- <br />hold on my mind - after just four hours <br />of nothing like sleep, too weak to shower. <br /> <br />At least I rested, this much is true; <br />my eyes no more bear reddish hue. <br />Still, I'm not sure which foot is right <br />and which is wrong, if it's day or if it's night. <br />Did I just put the cat in the sink - <br />the dishes out the door, I think? <br /> <br />(But I don't own a cat, so how -? <br />No, I won't worry about that now...) <br /> <br />My life's a shambles, the house in ruins, <br />I cannot count from one to two! <br />Sweet relief, where have you gone? ... <br />Please hold me, Sleep, sing me a song, <br />a lullaby of soothing rhyme <br />to save me from committing crime. <br /> <br />(2.20.06)<br /><br />Esther Leclerc<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/help-me-sleep/
