NOW I LAY ME…
Sleep is easy
Just close your eyes
And
Try not to think
But if you must
Think only happy
Ones, like the time
No that wasn’t so happy
Think of the seashore.
The waves
Think of the waves, count
Them
All right, fifty is enough,
Think of other things
Like the time.
Like the time
Think of pretty things,
Like…like her,
Oh God, now the heart is racing,
Nothing feels comfortable,
Not this bed, the pillow
All right, pillows
Get a drink of water
And one of the pills
Just one more
Stop kidding yourself,
You’ve had one,
Just don’t take another
Mustn’t take another
Count…keep counting
.My God it’s three o’clock.
You shouldn’t have looked at your watch
Shouldn’t have turned on the light and looked at it
On the nighttable.
Tomorrow I promise
No more pills
Just the one more tonight
One more
And not tomorrow
Ok, ok, this one, just this one….
Please God don’t let me
Wake up dead
Now I lay me, the just one more poem copyright 2012 Seymour Shubin
Other poems by Seymor Shubin
