If sleep arrives, it stays the night.
No more I’m woken by my dreams.
If sleep arrives at all, that is.
No more my mother hears my screams.

The breathing forms, the prayer beads,
The air conditioner, newly bought –
They all invite my sleep at night,
But nothing’s like your tablets, Doc.

They zombie me. They fatten me.
They make me lose my games of chess.
They make me make excuses, but
They bring my sleep like nothing else.

Of course, I flushed them long ago.
Addictions I have quite galore.
That doesn’t stop me missing them.
I miss so much and so much more.

Some nights I toss a coin and know
No sleep will come, no thoughts will go.
These nights, I sit and stare at stars
And watch the dew drop slowly grow.