Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Lostling Feb 10
Rest did not come find me last night
Instead I laid wide awake staring at the ceiling

Now exhaustion sits on my shoulder
Smirking and taunting me

So I pop a coffee sweet
Bitter alertness rolls over my tongue

But exhaustion returns, a sly fox
Dragging my eyelids down, stealing my strength

So I take another sweet
This one just as bitter as the last

The day crawls by and once again,
The wold is getting fuzzy…

Another one swallowed
And soon, I’ll need to buy a new supply
(As sleepless nights siphon from my soul, caffeine’s the tape that keeps me whole. At least just for the day)
nicole Feb 6
11-14-24   10:14pm

goodnight stars
you have been good to me

goodnight to the past
and recent regrets
doubts that swirl in my brain
like a never-ending current
you're gone too

gone are the thoughts that don't serve me
serve in a way that gratitude
and appreciation do


I'm sleepy now
with a kiss of happiness
and love so sweetly
whispering beneath me
from my pillow
Anais Vionet Nov 2024
It’s the morning of a different day—who knew there’d be another?
Lisa and I went on our harbor jog @ 5am—that’s nothing new.
It was, like 44°—we’re enjoying fall’s cold, refreshing bite.

Anyway, my mind wasn’t on it and I nearly stumbled over
a chunk of dark, uneven roadway, made invisible by its function.
Charles, jogging beside me, wordlessly managed to right me
without us losing a step and I smiled my thanks.

argh! I’ve got to get out of my head.

Later, in class, lulled by the comfort of the stiff, wooden chair, my eyes unfocused and the professor’s voice seemed to fade into the backdrop. Suddenly, he was asking me a direct question that seemed almost without context.

Metaphorically slapped back into focus, I scanned the room and the whiteboard for clues before awkwardly—walking the edge of catastrophe—bluffing it out, because, well, I’ve an instinctive reluctance to admit defeat with any sort of grace.

I didn’t sleep well last night. I had dreams—nothing with a defined purpose–just an amalgamate of bonfires and storms in a coastal scrubland with an odor of fresh cedar and a sense of casual vulnerability.

My attention today is like an intermittent pulse.
.
.
Songs for this:
Headz Gone West by Nia Archives
Dark Red by Steve Lacy
Merriam Webster word of the day challenge 11/04/24:
Amalgamate is a formal verb meaning "to unite (two or more things) into one thing."
Jia En Oct 2024
Eyelids, always too heavy.
Glued for eternity
The moment I snap
Them shut. Then someone’ll clap
Or scream or shout
Their lungs out
Or tap
My shoulder or call
My name before I fall
Asleep. It really makes
No
Difference though–
I wouldn’t be able to take
A break,
Even if I wasn’t awake.
afraid of ever closing my eyes
caitlan Dec 2023
i see him off.
i shut the door.
i climb back into bed.

toes in lasting body heat.
covers on my head.

bleary eyes on yellowed screen til
warmth's faded away.

i check the time
and heave a sigh.
it's time to start the day.
xavier thomas Jun 2023
How many more overnights
will there be of replays
playing memories, at 5am
knowing **** well I have
work in the morning?
Love disease
I'm tired of not dreaming.
My sleep does not rest me,
For when I close my eyes,
I open them back up to reality.

I'm tired of not moving.
My weary eyes stay open,
For if I close my eyes,
I do not go towards a future.

I'm tired of not breathing.
Every time I inhale,
It is to just maintain.
I wish I could still smell the flowers.

I'm tired.

So tired.

But when I'm with you,
I can sleep, dreaming of a future.

When I'm with you,
My stiff body moves forward.

When I'm with you,
I can finally have a breath of fresh air.

When I'm with you,
I'm not tired.
And I will never be tired of you.
Katie May 2022
Even as my eyes grow ever-tired;
I'll stay awake this evening through.

I don't want to miss a moment with you.
135
Anya Dec 2021
The title is simply
a culmination of my whims
like the whim that keeps me
glued to my screen
tap taping away
tap
tap tap

While my room looks like some monster's den
And I engorge myself on those chocolate almonds

My eyes grow hazy
As my waistline grows larger
The yellow light pierces my eyeballs

As I be tap
tapping
away
If you're feeling like me right now, you're not alone. It's so easy to get swallowed up by our screens, fight it, fight it so you have no lasting regrets for the time will slip through your fingers like sand.
Anastasia Oct 2021
Sleepy demon, close your eyes
Hell's too warm for you to rest
Soon someday you'll realize
That I've always tried my best
In my arms
Quiet and cool
The lights are dim
The clouds are wool
Stars on the ceiling
Sparkling above us
Your horns are pitch
Obsidian and onyx
Tired from fighting
Lashes charred from flames
Looking up from dark circles
Sleepy one, have no shame
My lips on your forehead
As I watch your aura lift
I love you, little demon
I will let you drift
Next page