Insomnia

- Poetry -

Insomnia is a lonely goddess
   burdened with the mantle of
   Remembrance.
 
She wanders
   – not aimless –
   but directionless
   with a compass
   rendered faulty by her magnetic push
      searching for a pole
         to pull her
         – away –
         to anywhere but the alabaster tombs
         where she drifts
            from room to room.
 
So when she settles in my bed
   anointing with her tears
      the grey hairs of my head
      and we spend dark hours
      sharing the stories
      – the longings –
      that fill the bags
            under our eyes,
            lack of sleep doesn’t seem
                like such a sacrifice.
 
The frayed, silver edge
   of her ancient mantle
   rests across my chest.
      Her dirge sparks the static air
         scintillating in my somber room.
      There are things worse
         than to lie awake with a goddess
            in the light of the moon.