At night she visits me,

Curls up beside me in my bed.

My shadow self --

Stray cat, she-wolf, moon goddess --

While I, poor insomniac,

Struggle to recapture Sleep.

My shadow self purrs, hisses, sings songs to keep me up.

Sister, she whispers, "Sleep, sleep, sleep no more."

For her, night is a melody of star-filled dreams,

A secret garden full of fantasy.

Baring her teeth, she beckons me:

Throw off your clothes and let us run together

As fast as the night will take us.

Forget the day and its tiresome obligations,

The rituals of work and home,

The strings that tie us down to Earth.

Let your spirit soar into the air.

Ride the clouds like horses through the sky.

Sleep, sleep, sleep no more.

Rosalind Resnick

Sept. 20, 2016