Forced Sleep
You slide my eyelids shut
and braid my lashes tight
into silent, sleek ropes
of prison.
You pour liquid shadows
into the pupils of
my softening eyes,
so it hurts to see the light,
so that sharp glares spin themselves with
pain into the sleep-twisted
caverns of my mind, like
hard, unchewed food as it
slides down throats: scraping and
stinging and striking my
soft flesh.
You play lyrical lullabies on my
harpsichord-key teeth and
whisper to me tuneful fantasies of
soft beds with smooth sheets.
You numb the throb and stab of a
fraying awareness… yet
you also sooth the demons-
who touch and flirt with my
insides until they seep blood.
You make me forget:
suffering does not equal serenity.
Sleep does not equal rest.
You play my heartstrings like
a harp,
you coax my frantic lungs
into slowing their pace.
Your teeth are pens seeping
ink into my bloodstream like a sedative,
You course through me faster
than adrenaline, but
just slower than panic,
seducing me into your
tyrannical embrace.
You hum sweet cradle songs
to the tide of my blood,
you match my breath to the
flutter of eyelids whose
tenants see worlds made
of fantasy gone wrong.
And when my eyes do close-
you braid my lashes tight
into silent, sleek ropes
of prison darker than night.
This poem is an expression of sleep’s oppressive nature. Perhaps few of us realize it, but sleep has become increasingly forceful in our lives, to the point where many of can barely function because sleep has a sharp hold on our minds. We covet sleep constantly, yet what we are really looking for is rest. Nevertheless, sleep clings to us all day everyday, and slowly seduces us into succumbing to its tyrannical and deceptively soft nature.
Citations:
“Sleep Tight.” By Frankief on DeviantArt. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://frankief.deviantart.com/art/Sleep-Tight-324800884>.
“Is Seven Hours A Night The Optimal Amount Of Sleep?” Fast Company. 22 July 2014. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3033373/work-smart/is-seven-hours-a-night-the-optimal-amount-of-sleep>.