Every night before I sleep

About the time stars start to peep

My mind in quiet solitude

Plays games with words

Making thoughts rhyme

Not thinking of the place or time.

I. I have no choice

Except to lie and hear this voice

That plays so constantly in my head

Despite my protest, “it’s time for bed”

And so to rid myself of nagging words

I find my head composing verse.

I cannot take the blame or merit

For any poem that I take credit

I sign my name at the finish

Only then do words diminish

Silence deafens at midnight hours

To let me sleep through starlight showers.

Sometimes I think there is another me

Who has the insight I fail to see

Who sits quietly inside my head

Until I dare to go to bed

Then she takes the reigns to write

While my brains too tired to fight.

Cheryl O’Brien 2022 ©

Sleep. Courtesy of Shift Art