I don’t sleep anymore the way I did
afloat in dreams of neon dread
stretched like a tissue paper kite
caught hiding naked in the wires
tendons shrieking: Freeze! Freeze!
for my dearest familiar private enemies
were hunting me down
again
I used to laugh clear through the day
as I wander now at ease
through the valley of my strange home land
pacific monsters of sleep roll their grinning heads up to me
and I laugh when the gorillas come
down to the corral
at eve
But when the dog thumps down in a cooler hall,
Or I wake up to the blare of moonlit curtains,
Or the wind hoots through the chimney,
I stretch my legs slowly out straight
Breathe without a sound
Pull my pillow over my forehead
And wait for dawn to find me.