It’s hard to remember sleep
How did I get so confused
Dialling the wrong number in the dark
Hoping for a thief
Or defender
To pick up my soul
Curious trips
Messages that sing and soar
Rain that cleanses like soap in the mouth
Flimsy shinings
Traces of lines
Running in the night
How did I get so confused
The loneliness of insomnia
Wraps its arms around me
So tired
Traces of lines
Running in the night
She holds out a hand
I am really quite good at solving puzzles
But you
You are a curious creature indeed
A stilted story
All this nonsense with powders and pastes
Her voice sings
Mine is flimsy
So tired
More Wasteland than Wonderland
A collage of lines
Running fingers over skin in the night
Three am callings
Trips and messages I can hear but cannot reach
It’s hard to remember sleep
How did I get so confused
I hold her hand like a star in the night.
Trips and messages I can hear but cannot reach
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to remember sleep
Dreams have a way of presenting disconnected sequences that result in confusion. It is hard to comprehend that one forgets what sleep was all about. It happens yes!
http://imagery77.blogspot.my/2017/05/his-father-was-good-man-forgiving-man.html
Hank
Oh we really hope for sleep - thank you Hank!
Delete
ReplyDeleteI hope you haven't fallen into the same trap as me having my iPad to chat to at 4am in the morning! I am like a zombie by day and restless at night. Alice would know nothing of this but she might have a old bottle of laudanum handy to help the sleep!(the one labelled "Drink me". Love the photograph Jae.
Thanks Old Egg - sorry I deleted your first message zombie days indeed!
DeleteI will lay claim to it then in case others think you are talking to yourself. Which I may add; I do all the time myself.
ReplyDeleteIt's the best person to talk to ;)
DeleteI relate, Jae. Thank you for this poem.
ReplyDeleteThank you too Susan
DeleteAwake, asleep; there's little difference, for in our dreams we are awake. I found myself rubbing my eyes whilst reading this.
ReplyDeleteClick to read my latest tale
Insomnia feels like that for sure - thank you Keith
DeleteRain that cleanses like soap in the mouth... I always feel you drag words from deep within and drop them on the page. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit like that! Thank you Thotpurge
DeleteIt's hard to remember sleep
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Well-penned Jae.
Thank you Brenda..
DeleteI love your pretty star. Smiles. "More wasteland than wonderland" is a sad line. There is so much wonder. I so love the line "I hold her hand like a star in the night." Happy Sunday, Jae.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the star Sherry :-)
Delete"She holds out a hand
ReplyDeleteI am really quite good at solving puzzles"
This is my favorite part, and how you tied it to the ending.
Thanks Jericho
DeleteThis is what I know: As long as we have a hand--just one hand--to hold, we will be all right.
ReplyDeleteI do hope so - thank you Magical
DeleteI love the contradiction you've painted with "More Wasteland than Wonderland"--so vividly bleak.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit of a dark place - thank you C.C.
DeleteHolding hands with stars, nothing can beat it!
ReplyDelete;) thank you Annell xo
DeleteWasteland more than Wonderland... I find that my insomnia always is about what happens in plain daylight. Maybe insomnia is fear of light.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the only balance we can ever know is that one with equal parts of fearing both the light and dark. I pray you find the sleep you need,
DeleteElizabeth
I like that interpretation thanks Bjorn and Elizabeth - sleep would be good
DeleteI try to make friends with insomnia, and make it a time for reading, jotting down thoughts, thinking things through, and eventually sleep overtakes me. Your poem speaks volumes ... and speaks them well!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much indybev
DeleteI like the contradiction which you have painted here with "More Wasteland than Wonderland."
ReplyDeleteThank you Sanaa
DeleteWho said we need to sleep in particular times...I do sudoku, or wandering around, not big deal...sleep when your body wants it. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteThank you humbird xo
DeleteMore Wasteland than Wonderland has a darkness to it that I love. The last few lines kind of bring it back full circle. Maybe the insomnia is finally welcomed for it's light and dark.
ReplyDeleteMaybe so - thank you colourful pen
DeleteIt does feel like a wasteland when we think, in the middle of a sleepless night, that we are alone. It's good to have an inner Alice to hold our hand until we find peace, which is actually an awakening.
ReplyDeleteThank you as ever for your hand in the night Myrna
DeleteInsomnia is a mad beast grinning with sleepy eyes while shrieking twisted whispers into achy bones. I've told her once or thrice that she's not welcomed, but she keeps coming back, and grinning... with all those teeth and no yawning.
ReplyDeleteYou know her all too well - thank you Magaly
DeleteSleepless nights- wastelands... unsettling without a hand to hold...bkm
ReplyDeleteYes indeed thanks bkm...
DeleteAnother great use of images to create an anguished self... with the solution of hope from another.
ReplyDelete(Again, my personal interpretation of this interesting work)
ZQ
Thank you as ever for your interpretation ZQ
DeleteThis is so inward looking - perhaps it isn't confusion but perception from a different place. The closing line on this is exquisite ... its whisper is an echo. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy
DeleteLove the conclusion to this well composed journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Martin
DeleteI love your use of repetition in this.
ReplyDeleteGREAT lines:
"You are a curious creature indeed
A stilted story"
Thank you De
DeleteMuch said and much left unsaid...but felt. I always love to read your poems.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ayala
DeleteI like the way you bring your poem full circle....indeed sometimes it is hard to remember when one has slept the entire night! Blessings to you Jae, and I hope you ARE able to have restful sleep most nights.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary we do hope for a good nights sleep ;)
Delete'The loneliness of insomnia
ReplyDeleteWraps its arms around me'
'Three am callings
Trips and messages I can hear but cannot reach'
Expressed beautifully. Nice composition. :)