Sleepers, Awake!

Sleepless,naked,and alone,

Moonlight fills the darkened

Corners of my room.

Compelling thoughts gyrate

Like shooting stars,

Ricocheting off fireworks

Of silent synapses jolted

Awake from their dormant state.

Distant evening sounds

Echo haunting images.

Ruminating memories

Remain buried in the

Quicksand of yesterday

In an endless struggle

To stay with my elusive breath,

Slithering away like quicksilver.

Thoughts of future

Entangle and ensnare,

Locking me in an illusion

Of a comfort zone of tomorrow.

Anything but NOW

Pulls like a donkey

As sleep evades and conspires

To escape from myself.

Milt Ehrlich