In Search of Sleep
Sitting downstairs in my chair
The clock had long ago struck ten
I cast a yawn into the air
Head nodding in my hand again.
"I think the time has come," I said,
Though no one was around to hear,
"For me to go on up to bed,
Or I may fall asleep right here."
I left my homework lying there,
That evil hazard to my health
If left alone all night, thought I,
Maybe it will do itself.
I stretched and yawned and up I got,
Blindly stumbling from my chair
Left my schoolwork there to rot,
So tired that I didn’t care.
Somnambulant, I crossed the floor
Turning lights off where I could
Somehow managed to lock the door,
At the bottom of the stairs I stood.
Up the stairs I turned my face
My hand upon the banister
Silently my footsteps placed
So as not to make my parents stir.
I was so tired that I could
Barely get my knees to bend,
And pick my feet up like I should
To place them on the steps again.
"Must go on…" I slurred in speech,
And desp’rately I grasped the railing,
But before the landing I could reach
Down the stairs I toppled, flailing.
I hit the wall, I hit the ground,
My feet went up, my head below
Struck every step on my way down
Till bottom I hit with a crashing blow.
I opened my eyes, and realized
I really had no pain at all
I thought this rather odd, cause I
Had taken quite a nasty fall.
That’s about the time that I
Looked down and saw my body there.
Broken legs and twisted spine,
Face covered by my tangled hair.
Perhaps for this I should have pined,
Mourned for my sudden state of decease
But the only thought I had in mind
Was, "Perhaps now I can rest in peace…"
Copyright ©1999 by Veronica L. F. Jensen
