Monday. The word sends shivers down many people’s spines. What is it we hate about Mondays? Mantra says it applies to all days which end in Y.
We lament the interruption to our unfettered time. We deplore the drudgery of work-a-day life. Whether our Monday coincides with the one on the calendar or falls on any random Thursday, we wish we could stay in bed to recover from the expeditions of the times we enjoy, the family time, the play time, the times without demands…or at least demands which threaten our livelihood if not met…
How much do you earn your rest? Are you spent at the end of the day from physical labor or exercise? Are you mentally drained from work or family? (Yes, stay-at-home parenting and work are no cake walk, physically or mentally.) What is the one thing you want?
A Good Night’s Sleep
Isn’t it always the way? Something or someone demands your (attention, presence, resources) the moment your head hits the pillow.
Mantra says, Put up a fight. Titled Not Now, tonight’s poem looks at the quest for quiet and rest, while celebrating the ability to claim much needed sleep. Grab a toddy…it is bedtime.
Full and low, the moon's trying
Not Now
There is a moonbeam,
One, single, snowy white ray,
Streaming in through her window.
Full and low, the moon’s trying
To shake her awake.
She’s wrapped in a dream,
Swaddled in softest linens,
Head nestled in the pillow.
She’ll not be easily stirred.
Her rest it can’t take.
The sunrays stole it
Very early this morning.
A teeming pack of warm thieves
Rousing her to rise with them,
Play the day away.
Amongst them to flit,
Basking in their crisp brightness,
Soaking shadows thrown from leaves
Of oaks, under which she sat
Writing a spring play.
When the beams tired
And the shadows took vision
From her eyes, she walked back here
To collapse in downy warmth
Of a feather bed.
The moonbeam stays mired
In the darkened window pane.
He’s unable to appear
In her dream, only the floor
Of her room instead.
170520121423
(c) Ann Marie Dwyer
~~~~~~~~~~
Have you ever felt like the sun and moon exist only to interrupt your sleep? Did you have a good Monday? What helps you to fall asleep?
valentinelogar
/ May 21, 2012I love this one. You are teaching me a new and wonderful appreciation for poetry.
valentinelogar recently posted..Picking My Battles Wisely
Red
/ May 23, 2012I am glad. It is one of my most creative outlets these days.
prenin
/ May 21, 2012Hi hun! 🙂
I sleep when tired, eat when hungry and drink when thirsty because no matter how I try I can’t keep to a regular sleep pattern, including bouts of insomnia when I can be awake for 48 hours and end up with a headache that never goes away until I finally get tired enough to close my eyes…
Now the warm weather is finally here sleep is going to be even harder to find and the sunshine is going to cook me out of bed.
As for the moon?
I sometimes spend hours looking up at that silvery form drifting overhead and dream of the day mankind is going to own it.
Space. The final frontier and our only means of escape from a poisoned Earth…
Love and hugs!
Prenin.
prenin recently posted..Sunday – The sleep confusion continues…
Red
/ May 23, 2012I think space travel would be fun, but I cannot imagine enduring the children’s Are we there yet?
{HUGZ}
Red.
Raymond Alexander Kukkee
/ May 21, 2012Red, interesting, but have you ever been able to sleep only from total exhaustion? Some of us deal with that every day. Time reversal. Routine inversion. Pure sleep is like a drink of cool water. Far too rare. That’s why I’m in the corner office at all hours…dealing with alien sleep advisers who understand not the human condition. ~R
Raymond Alexander Kukkee recently posted..Special Techniques in Bonsai: Grumpy Update
Red
/ May 23, 2012I sleep so rarely, I understand this entirely.
Angela Young
/ May 21, 2012I love the poem:). Sleep is often interrupted. By sun and moon, by children, by mates, by pain and joy, … When the body has had enough, sleep comes–only to be interrupted once more…
My dad always told me to witness to the devil and he’ll make sure you get to sleep. Trying to read the Bible or meditate on scripture is a sure- fire fix too :). Angie
Angela Young recently posted..So little time….
Red
/ May 23, 2012Your dad’s advice is priceless! The ultimate in reverse psychology!
Becky Champ on Facebook
/ May 22, 2012It’s late, Red, but I’m making it to the nightly blog as I promised myself I’d now make time for. I’m excited to see what you’ve written about! 🙂
Red
/ May 23, 2012I am so very glad, too! LOL! You need some sleep.
Soma Mukherjee
/ May 22, 2012Oh the poetry is so beautiful,
A teeming pack of warm thieves
Rousing her to rise with them,
Play the day away…..loved those lines
I normally have good sleep but there are times when i have a long sleepless nights
mostly put on some music ,sip a hot cuppa tea or coffee, or just write..
dunno some nights nothing works
Soma Mukherjee recently posted..Ya-aawn
Red
/ May 23, 2012For me, the writing does it. I wear out the notebook beside the bed when sleep is elusive. Glad you liked this one, Soma!
spilledinkguy
/ May 22, 2012Love the poem, Red! So very impressive (as always)!
It takes me SO long to fall asleep… and when I do it seems like I wake up ALL the time.
*grumble*
But my Monday was good (hope yours was, too)… so that helps.
🙂
spilledinkguy recently posted..Anna No. 2 (faux wet plate collodion)
Red
/ May 23, 2012Monday was a quiet day for me, so that is a victory of sorts!
Red
/ May 23, 2012I knew if I looked around long enough I would find this one for you.
Tess Kann
/ May 26, 2012Most nights I sleep well enough to be called a child. Once or twice in a while, especially when coffee is involved, I do not. Mostly–devil may care–I sleep like the dead. Lucky? I’m not sure. The devil feels much too close–or maybe I feel too close to him. What good luck I have of making us all equal.. Why should I feel guilty? DO click on the left and enjoy the links. As time goes by, I find that old(er) people like certain things to be regular and on time.: breakfast, lunch and dinner! Have I given away too many secrets? Too bad. Mostly this feels the mosts regular thing now. How? What? When? Where? Why?
Tess Kann recently posted..Mucking Around
Red
/ May 26, 2012LOL! You know, I have a very similar set of regular wants presented to me on a daily basis. One of these days, I will be the one making the demands!
*Grins*
Red.