Insomnia

Towering shadows, 

Stand by my bed. 

I am so tired, 

But I still talk to them, 

Of faith and hope and love. 

I am a chaperone for dreams, 

Standing at the forbidden gateway. 

'Come, enter, don't be afraid, 

This way, every night, 

Here's where you must stay.'

They are hungry for days, 

Eat my neck today, I say. 

Here are my calves, 

The ones you adore, 

My eyes, my lips, my hands, 

Rubbing your back pain away.

I'm so tired, I know they are too, 

We haven't slept for years now, 

We haven't spoken the truth. 

I kneel at their feet in surrender, raising hands, 

I see them looking at my empty eyes, I beg, 

'Take all of me, leave nothing behind, 

Sacrifice me for yourself, I'm willing,

I don't think I will ever mind. 

But please, get me out of this dream, 

Bring me into reality, break this spell

Or kill me, because in between, I'm dying'

They pull me up and embrace me, 

Hold me tight and still deny it. 

'You are going to be here forever, 

You are never going to cross over. 

This is where you are loved, 

This is where you will find the joy. '

I submit again and lay down on the bed, 

Staring at clocks, knowing I will be lead. 

And when I scream under the covers alone, 

The day will break, I will rise with the sun.

Till the next night, and the next, 

I will be tired with the tired,

Sleepless with the sleepless. 

Living a lie in the sunlight and behave, 

Waiting for the night to be deprived again. 

To be filled again, taken again by

Restless shadows consumed by desire, 

And yet deprived of the final touch, 

Always ever for years, deprived.