No Sleep

I don’t know if anyone else is experiencing restlessness at night, during this strange period between the rollout of vaccines and the attainment of actual safety.  Everyone’s mood seems to be vacillating between euphoria and horror, and at night it’s no different.

I know it’s affecting my sleep.

But like most things, it is much easier to blame it on your partner.  Apologies in advance to him.

Hope you enjoy this rhythmic complaint.  Stay safe out there!

I wish you could sleep

So I could sleep,

So I could sleep, again.

I wish you could sleep

So I could sleep,

So deep into my mind

Would creep

The silence

And the solace

Of a land beyond my ken.

I wish you’d ignore

My stretching stir,

My toss and squirm and bend,

My roll and stretch,

My stretch and purr,

My drowsy, grouchy kitten’s purr,

And fall asleep again.

But things as they are,

The slightest vibe,

The slightest sign that I’m alive,

The slightest vibe

Reverberates.

And my sleep,

My sleep abates.

How long can we sleep

Both here and there,

Both up and down

And still not there,

And tit for tat,

Yet never square,

And sanity forsake?

As long as my sleep,

My lovely sleep,

My darling,

Sleep,

You take.

Copyright 2021 Andrea LeDew

For another poem longing for an end to this mess, check out  And Back Again.