June 28, 2007

Insomniac in a Strange Bed

i.

There’s me,
and there’s sleep,
and then there’s the something
in the way.

ii.

Sheep
do not enter the picture.

iii.

This morning at five am he called to me
“Mommy!”
I pushed up onto my elbow
rolled out and onto my feet
half angry half scared
(why in the world would he be awake now?)
except he wasn’t.
I charged into his room
towering over him, heart pounding,
and found him
sunk deep into sleep, open-mouthed.
Whatever I’d heard had come from me.

iv.

I case strange rooms like a burglar.
What will I take with me?A mental map of the carpet design,
a new pillow-turning technique,
memorized cable channel numbers,
the sound of the clock numbers flipping.
The bed that kicked me out at home
seems generous in comparison to this.
I sit at the desk and write notes
to myself on hotel stationery,

something to do when cast adrift.


(Thanks to the women of Poetry Thursday
for their continuing inspiration,
and to Jaxter, for letting me "lift" a title.)

11 comments:

Sr. Heather said...

Great observation - I have sooooooo "been there, done that." I especially like iii about the child - I've had that happen before, too!

Crafty Green Poet said...

This is excellent! Insommnia is a rare occurrence for me thankfully.

tinamtl said...

I have rarely been NOT able to sleep. But that calling of MOMMY that you hear loud and clear and run into the room only to find them fast asleep has happened many a time! And I can still hear the voice ringing in my ear too when I go check.

Regina said...

Oh, it sounds like me the past two nights...
I love the first stanza- that's it in a nutshell!

Pauline said...

I love the form and the way it all flows together but I especially love ii.

Rob Kistner said...

Sleeplessness is so damned frustrating -- and you capture it here pretty well.

I occasionally have the sensation, when stuck between sleep and waking that someone is in the room with me.

I struggle to engage in conversation only to awake more fully to find myself alone -- just my wife asleep next to me? Very strange...

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

I think most of us have "been there." I sometimes hear a voice call my name just as I am falling asleep...

Nice work.

Stacy said...

Nicely captured sentiment.

Deb said...

I love the sections, the tone, the pacing. Makes that isolation of insomnia crystal clear.

Clare said...

This is great. And the line "sheep/ do not enter the picture" is perfect!

Nancy Bea Miller said...

Oh, these are amazing! Beautfiul work.

BTW, I often do the very same thing when feeling "adrift" in a strange place: write notes to myself. I thought I was the only one with that habit. A literary coping mechanism we share!