Sleep is an elusive lover;

She gazes longingly out the window

And leaves you waiting

Throughout the night.

Your fingers tremble to hold her tenderly,

But her kisses are pale shadows of passion.

Her arms weaken under your grasp;

She pulls away

And cannot meet your eyes.

Silver stars snicker and tease,

Twinkling as they dance lightly upon the window glass;

The black night beckons you with cold warmth,

But Sleep shies away,

Hesitant to let you slip through the breath of the sheets

Into a dream.

She wistfully glances to the door

And edges across the carpet;

Your heavy sigh gives her speed.

Sleep has found another who pleases her,

Who holds her more tightly in the dark,

Who does not kick so sharply,

Who does not fear so much the night

And grows anxious with its waking.

She whisks out the room, leaving only

A whisper of her sympathy,

“You can have my sister, though.”

As Sleep calls to comfort another man,

You turn around and find

Insomnia

Waiting for your love.