~George Carlin
Happy Poetry Friday! I have been busier than a one-armed paper hanger. You'd think that would make me sleep well, but it's a crapshoot.
Wish
by Rebecca Aronson
I want to lie down like a tiny birch canoe,
sewn with red thread, afloat in the street
in the rushing aftermath
of a good spring rain. To curl in the y of a desert willow
at sundown when its pink blossoms
are a thousand distant lanterns strung
among the branches. At night
I prop my sleeping body like a shield.
I fly myself like a volley of arrows
toward the glowing eye of sleep’s center...
read the rest here
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A bonus poem: Belief in Magic by Dean Young
Buffy Silverman has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Buffy!
Sleep has been a crapshoot for me too lately. But this poem makes sleep seem magical and attainable--maybe we just need to call sleep’s name!
ReplyDeleteAh, sleep, that illusive bedfellow. This poem gives me comfort in my shared insomnia. Thanks, Tabatha. :)
ReplyDeleteExquisite poem, Tabatha. Halfway through reading, I hunted out an insta-post I saw this week of a sweet place to sleep. (https://www.instagram.com/p/CIcEfWmhMhv) Then came back and loved the end as much as the start. Hoping you find your sweet sleep spot.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yep....sure is a crapshoot. I love the dream-like quality of this poem. Those lanterns. sweet. I've been busy too. I'm in my yearly challenge of making everyone else happy with gifts without becoming too cranky. It's my own fault. As a creative I really like making things for others...but dang....not enough hours in the day! Hugs for the lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteAh, those words that still "hover in the air". I am okay with sleeping, but continue to wake at my old time before DST went away, thus too, too early! Love "listen for its echo" & really all of it, Tabatha, the attempt to show how the sleep yearning feels. Best to you in finding a way!
ReplyDeleteThis poem has such a mysterious feeling -- as if there's something dangerous and unknown at the edge of sleep.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear I'm not alone with trying to court elusive sleep. Interesting poem that made me consider sleep a mysterious ritual with magic involved.
ReplyDeleteTabatha...I lost myself, and found myself again, in these poems, particularly Young's... the words pour over me like a different kind of water I didn't even know I needed. For the record - I haven't been sleeping well, either. While I love connotations of magic, here's my favorite definition of sleep: time for the brain to repair itself each day. Heaven knows THAT is needed!
ReplyDeleteThe images in this poem are so great. "like an unhatched bird, dreaming as my egg tooth sharpens." Ah, to be an unhatched bird. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI do like the sound of the following thought at this time in my life:
ReplyDeletewant sleep to vanish me
in its secret chamber...
Ah, I am falling asleep while reading the post.
I too know this constant lack of time–Thanks for sharing this poem seeking sleep in "pink blossoms, and "dreaming as my egg tooth sharpens," but alas not always within reach. Here's to finding sleep my friend, and some free moments to unwind in.
ReplyDeleteI love the imagery in this poem. Those "distant lanterns strung among the branches" makes me want to string tiny white lights all around my house! Thank you for sharing, Tabatha!
ReplyDeleteI've been mostly exhausted enough this school year to fall over a cliff edge into sleep the minute my head hits the pillow. But for those times when sleep eludes me, I will keep this list of relaxing images in mind to play through one by one. I think I'll be asleep before I get to the inside of the eggshell!
ReplyDeleteGreat poem! I have been sleeping so badly lately.
ReplyDeleteMay your volley of arrows find its target tonight and into the future. How is everyone?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be nice to fall asleep deeply and all night. This is such a luxurious poem, a luxurious wish. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDelete