Insomnia
Brady Bowen 1973 (Louisiana)
On the hiking trail of the night lands
I don't sleep so I walk these dark streets
gait long eyes droop I'm swinging my hands
there is no respite between my sheets
Three calendar flips flash by quickly
I'm starting to see tricksy lights now
please let me rest I mumble thickly
my body doesn't remember how
I try to stand through daylight hours
for if I sit I'll surely doze off
foremost insomniac ability
no matter how much coffee I quaff
My feline spy says I enrage her
I am he the stumbling pied piper
never possessed of gentle nature
lately she hisses like a viper
Wait did I say I converse with cats
my wits are seeming to desert me
my neighbors observe our midnight spats
I'll bet they're making plans to hurt me
Surely those are just paranoid thoughts
for everyone is always so kind
it's only a suspicious onslaught
long awake dust devils of the mind
for a tick my knees quickly buckle
as I fall fast asleep on my feet
I grasp sanity with white knuckles
master of this domain of concrete
the eastern sky soon bloodless and pale
can something be foreshadowed by light
another evening gone to no avail
soon I'll end another wakeful night
Exhausted I direct my steps homeward
turning my alarm off with a smirk
waking up for me is misnomered
I'm waking down now it's time for work
About this poem
The struggle never ends.
Font size:
Written on August 28, 1973
Submitted by BradyB999 on June 10, 2022
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 20 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XECE FFFF GCGC XHXH XIXI JKJK XLHL |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,310 |
Words | 268 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Insomnia" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/129697/insomnia>.
Discuss the poem Insomnia with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In