Sleep
It’s like writing a poem
every night from scratch
I don’t know how to do it
or believe it’s going to happen
but every night it does
I wake but don’t open my eyes
I don’t put demands on the day
or guide the direction of thoughts
I don’t want the first thing
I remember in the morning
to be the last thing
I worried about last night
______________Colleen Redman / Poets United
October 7th, 2018 9:12 am
Wow….I do hate it when the last thing I worried about the night before is the thing that greets me when I awaken. It is nice to wake to a fresh slate thinking about possibilities rather than worry. I enjoyed this poem because I could identify with it.
October 7th, 2018 10:08 am
From the first stanza this is both hopeful and arresting–I tend to try for carryover days, things remembered as soon as one wakes rather than letting sleep be what it perhaps should.
October 7th, 2018 10:29 am
I am trying to learn this: “I don’t put demands on the day/or guide the direction of thoughts”.
An excellent piece of wisdom of going about the day post the night’s sleep which comes naturally like a poem.
October 7th, 2018 11:01 am
Well said. These days my thoughts are a treadmill of bad news, so i totally resonate with this poem.
October 7th, 2018 11:06 am
The last stanza? I’m afraid I’m caught in the cycle of worrying at night, and waking up to the worry in the morning. **sigh**
October 7th, 2018 11:39 am
The worries at night that keeps us awake… love the way you describe it to that poem…
October 7th, 2018 11:53 am
I like how you’ve equated the mystique of writing, the act of wanting and perhaps needing to create, how it works itself out better so often, when we don’t force it – with the concept of worry. Worrying robs so much of our lives – whether it be of more personal concerns or broader issues – and yet, the wisdom lies in learning which battles should be addressed and what needs to be left behind. And how often worrying is just about a sense of loss of control. Sometimes, it’s just the way of truth to allow things to just be, as they are, as they will.
October 7th, 2018 12:29 pm
I resonate strongly with the idea of waking in the morning .. reminded of troubles from last night … Powerful write ❤
October 7th, 2018 2:46 pm
It’s the niggly worries that keep me awake most of the night and are there waiting for me when I wake that worry me. I sometimes wish for a remote control for my brain!
October 7th, 2018 3:10 pm
Sadly I have felt similarly. There’s that split second where your mind is at peace, then it all rushes back again.
October 7th, 2018 3:12 pm
Well said. Unfortunately I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about those worries.
October 7th, 2018 5:31 pm
I have a rule. I put my worries in a box by the bed and don’t open it until I am ready to face them, often not until later in the day!
October 7th, 2018 5:54 pm
Sleep like writing a poem, love that thought. It is precisely that. I’ve begun writing poems again, after decades, and it is like waking up when a poem has revealed itself to me. Had no idea that was even where I was going.
October 7th, 2018 8:27 pm
A fascinating first verse in particular. I had never thought much about going to sleep, let alone what a mysterious process it actually is. Thank you.
October 10th, 2018 8:06 pm
Thank you for this … it is going into my poetry journal. The other comments also made me feel not so alone with sleep issues. i shall try to follow the wisdom in your poem.