Failure to Sleep
Pesky thoughts,
like flies,
like mosquitos,
buzzing, biting, bombarding,
easily escape
my futile swatting.
Rehearsing tirelessly on the dark stage
of my brain, awkward thought snippets act
out scenes – me saying things that didn’t
play out quite right. They act out numerous
options -- what I could have said instead.
Plans for next day repeat
in an endless annoying loop,
punctuated by pieces of unwritten
poems perishing permanently as I fail
to capture them.
Pesky thoughts,
dive bombing my head,
why must you go on tormenting me
in the season of retirement
when fuel for obsession
should be growing scarce?
Why must you go on buzzing
in the season of freeze
when bugs should be dead?
Why do you not leave me
to rest in peace?
November 2023
