bedtime poems


3:21 AM on Mon, Jul 17, 2023:

I’m more familiar
with 3 am than 6
but I rose for years at
hellish 6 to join the daily
grind, forced into
unnatural rhythms
but now I’m free
I rise when my eyes open
I sleep when they close
I still have bad nights,
hellish mornings
but at least I’m free
of the clock’s tyranny

2:54 AM on Sun, Jul 16, 2023:

shall I write of pain
or of the smoke
drifting through the open
window from the fire pit
across the way choking
like remorse before it fades
or shall I instead write
of the downy soft cat
who wants to cuddle
despite the heat
her purring a balm to all
the pain that aches me?

3:00 AM on Fri, Jul 14, 2023:

no pressure
you did this
to yourself
no one has any
expectations
except you
but that’s the thing
isn’t it?
we always martyr
ourselves
on our own
expectations

3:07 AM on Wed, Jul 12, 2023:

memories crowding around
like guests uninvited to a party
they have stayed too long
leaning against the walls
wondering if they dare to dance
but I’m too tired to indulge them
wishing but too polite to say
they should just grab a beer
and go home

 

Lately I’ve been writing mini-poems just before I go to sleep at night. It helps me unwind and relax my mind. I thought I’d share a selection of them here. How long will I keep this up? No idea. As long as it seems necessary, I guess. If you want to read all I’ve done so far (they’re not all good), you can go here: https://pjthompson.dreamwidth.org/2065123.html

2:30 AM on Tue, Jul 11, 2023:

in the liminal space
at the end of the day
when sleep approaches
like a shy, purring cat
to knead at my
consciousness
turning in circles
looking for a place
to settle

2:11 AM on Mon, Jul 10, 2023:

dark energy, some physicists
say, is the force of
emptiness, a void in the
cosmic web pushing the
matter of the universe
farther and farther
from where it began
and it’s everywhere,
between us around us
within us without us
pushing us away
always away
from where we began

3:01 AM on Sun, Jul 09, 2023:

the world is small sometimes
so small and cold and selfish
it can be large though
large and warm and free
if imagination and compassion
can hold it up to the light
hold hands with me
let’s give it a try

11:45 PM July 6, 2023:

this will all make
better sense
in the morning
that’s what
I tell myself
over and over
but it never does