Don’t Wake Me Early – July 2022
I cling to morning sleep
like I cling to the blanket
when it’s cold
I keep my eyes closed
as if there was a war
I didn’t want to see
As if our country
wasn’t selling arms
to young white men
who murder children
I prolong my sleep
for the lure of escape
from the doom of false prophets
who impose their beliefs
They stake their claims
on the bodies of women
degrade diversity
and individual freedoms
I linger in between
wakefulness and dreams
where nightmares are metaphors
and privacy is assured
Until the light of day
gathers strength
and reality creeps in
I resolve to make the best of it
to be awake again
_____Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United /dVerse Poets Pub
July 22nd, 2022 12:32 am
True… I’ve stopped watching TV news, I read news selectively on twitter- just so I’m not hopping mad or sad all day. Does feel like one is just helplessly watching the world go into a tailspin…
July 22nd, 2022 12:54 am
Alas, there’s not much we can do except make the best of it. We can still find joy in small things around us, and still try to impart joy to others.
I tend to agree with both you and Rajani, ‘helplessly watching’ etc. But I plan to ‘keep on keeping on’ as best I can for as long as I can, and still do what little I can to shift the troubles that assail us, even if it seems a gigantic and hopeless task. I remind myself, I am far from the only one doing it.
July 22nd, 2022 5:13 am
I can see why you want to keep your eyes closed I feel the same You sometimes just feel helpless and overwhelmed. Well written
July 22nd, 2022 2:02 pm
I’m glad your poem ends with a firm resolve.
July 22nd, 2022 2:41 pm
Amen to that!
July 22nd, 2022 2:57 pm
Oh I can relate to this!!! I just truly cannot believe the things that are happening. You say it well here. At 75, there is little I can do. But I live in Boston (familiar with Hull!) and at least MA is, in my mind, on the correct side of gun legislation and Roe vs Wade etc. So in some ways, I feel like my vote doesn’t count because we already have senators and representatives who are trying to right the ship…but voting is still important. I do however, have a woman down the hall who is my “educational project” and instead of trying to avoid the topic of politics, because we are good friends, I try to, in good and happy conversations, to have her watch IE the Jan 6 hearings on CSPAN where there are no “talking heads” so she can make her own judgments. We each have to do what we can do….and concentrate on all the good there is around us as well as the muck!
Probably way more info than you wanted in a reply to your post….but that’s what good writing does: inspires a connection and a response. Glad you posted for OLN!
July 22nd, 2022 4:08 pm
Such a relatable poem, unfortunately. I don’t live in the United States, but my country has a lot of its own crises to deal with.
July 22nd, 2022 6:13 pm
I relate, Lillian, having lived in MA for so many years. I love hearing from you and so happy to always meet those who are like-minded.
July 23rd, 2022 12:29 am
There doesn’t seem to be very much good news around does there. Your poem reminds me of when I didn’t know what war was but I did know how to hunker down under the covers to keep warm. After my little sister got the second bedroom in our tiny house my dad and grandfather closed in the front porch and that was my sleeping quarters with the couch opened up. On cold mornings there would be frost on my blankets. Then I remembered war from when my dad and I listened to the post Pearl Harbor on the car radio. No TV or electricity on the farm.
..
July 23rd, 2022 12:20 pm
There’s really no incentive, no really good news, to get out of bed, isn’t it?
Hope the warmth is coming back soon.
July 23rd, 2022 5:47 pm
Like others I relate to this, We are living in war like conditions….just no bombs..Making the best of it is our only option…that and some hearty laughs.
July 25th, 2022 1:26 pm
I resonate so deeply with this one, Colleen. We are living in difficult times.
July 27th, 2022 6:49 pm
I’m right there with you. I can’t remember any other time in my life when I felt this sense helplessness (and outrage). It’s hard, nearly impossible, not to want to turn our faces (and minds) away from all the horror. But we both know that we won’t–there is too much to do. Still, it’s nice to keep our eyes close for just a few minutes every now and again (in self defense).