Rouse

Crack of thunder

in the early morning darkness

I wake and listen 

It rumbles deep

through the valley

Breathing deeply in

Exhaling

I try and go back to sleep

Rain is falling

and it is falling still

Approaching Natural Rhythm

to wake 

and not rush

natural rhythm

of rest 

sunlight 

in your eyes

wake

yes

wake

Tired and restless
Warm summer night
left me tossing in bed
Thoughts turned to you
Finally some peace
Finally something good

skin on skin
your heartbeat
lulls me to sleep
again

My Sleeping Niece

I pass by your bed and
see you sleeping peacefully.
Having known you
since your birth
I am amazed by you.
You have the joy
and freedom
of life this fully within.
Your exuberance
is infectious
and at times
all I can do is smile
when you call me
or ask a question.
I want you to dream
and not be cumbered
by the ambition
you hold. Dream
as much and as boldly
as you can, Little One.
Your Uncle is here,
and he wants you
to have the world
if you want it.

Sleeping Gods

Even the Gods must sleep
and when they do
of what do they dream
Dreamless thoughts
as they breathe through
the infinite and eternal

The Dreamer

This story begins where everything ends.
Everything ends because given enough time
that is what happens to everything. All life,
all things in the material world are destined
to destruction if you look far enough down
the timeline. Which end are we speaking
about? Could it be the end of one human
lifetime? Could it be at the end of all human
life and civilization? It can be all these things.
I was the last human on this Earth. Do you
believe me? If you're reading this you might
be wondering how this was possible. If you're
reading this then I suppose I was wrong.
That is unless you are something beyond
human that can comprehend the words of a
feverish and dying man. It came to be that
after civilization ground to a halt and all the
wars and devastation were done that were
few and fewer of us here. At the end I had
not seen proof of another human in 7 years.
Somehow I persisted in this dead and solitary
world. I was weary. I was tired. I had been
suicidal. Living, being what it is, is a hard
habit to break. So I lived. I lived and searched
to the fullest extent I could. I roamed and
searched and searched and searched. The
years began to stretch behind me like a dead
tail I kept dragging around. The ghosts of
everyone haunted me in my sleep and in
the shadows of day. I grew to question my
very existence but even that was not enough
to end it. Why would it? Instinct and hope
kept pushing me further and further. Yet,
here I am. Believing myself to be the last
of us. As far as I know, I am. Generations
upon generations of cumulative success and
failure in the hands of a dying man. How
much more can I say? What more can I say?
It is not possible to sum up all my thoughts
on what I have lived and suffered, nor
enough time or space to give any eulogy
or write an epitaph for all of us. When we
fall asleep we dream. Now I must sleep.
And in this sleep I will roam forever. I am
going home. I am going home to see you
all again.

Sleep / Wake Variations

If you are awake because you cannot sleep
then stay awake until you can sleep
and when you sleep you will dream
as though you were awake.

There is so much I am yet learning about myself.
There is so much I am yet learning about my weaknesses.
There is so much I am yet learning about my strength.
There is so much I am yet learning about my capacity for change.

Have I decided that enough is enough?
Yes, I feel that now inside.
It is now I begin to unravel myself
from where I have sewn myself into.

There are things I have been telling myself
And now these thoughts wish to be realized.
It is time to take the internal world and give
it life in this world of the body.

The contemplation of early morning is the
contemplation held over from dreams.
It is the contemplation that is ether longing
to gain existence in this world.

I am awake and feel a type of peace and
understanding about what I must do today.
It is a simple thing. It is so simple that
merely abstaining will be the doing.

I am awake and ready.
I am awake and ready.
I am awake and ready.
I am awake and ready.

What Honesty Said To Me

I woke up with honesty
After a good night's rest.
We said hello and I
accepted what she said.
There was some struggle
last night but I won myself
over as best I could
to make the better choice.
This day is beginning
and there are small steps
to take once more
because that's all this life
is about. One sunrise
at a time. One sunset
at a time. Wake and
sleep. Choices made
and followed through.

Sleep

I'm sleeping better these days
It's a small thing in a vast world
but it's a big thing in a small life
The pain
The suffering
that afflicts many
is still there
It is not far from my mind
but I am better
for being able to deal
with myself
so I can deal
with everything else

Summer Sleep

Warm summer nights
Sleeping next to an open window
How easy it is
to fall asleep in this comfort
Floating between worlds
Eyes moving behind eyelids
Seeing everything and forgetting
Seeing everything and remembering

Dreams That Call

Awake yet still dreaming
I see my past and future
Aligned within the same place
The place my parents called home
The place they left for a new life
I hear it's whispers calling
Through years and memory
It is patient with it's call
Calling a son home
To roots and soil
Blood of my ancestors
Home to those who gave
Me this life and
Gave life to
Them in turn

What was the wind saying?

fitful sleep
the wind spoke
in endless conversation
through the night
I awaken early
unable to ignore
the shifting words
through the trees
what now
what words
what needs to be said

Moving languidly
Beat floats into morning air
Do you stir now Dear

The Strangeness of Dreams

To wake and remember
a dream is a rarity
What from these subconscious
worlds haunts us
compels us
and takes on the name
for our highest expectations
of ourselves
To occasionally glimpse
a world alien
or a world strangely
familiar in ways
words often fail
What are we telling ourselves
What do the unseen voices
of the farthest planes
wish us to infer
To wake
to sleep
so often do we
traverse this distance
do we know
where this moment is?

If one cannot sleep one must wake.
If one wakes one must create.

tied

to return from nothingness

night after night

this is our condition

morning daze

bright shining sun or

clouded over continents of gray

ever present wind coming in from the sea

water cannot stay still

continually crashes upon the shore

mind and body

together for as long

as the night holds the day

Rest your head
Sleep in the peace
Of Winter's dream
Sleep well dearest
Sleep well

You woke and said
it felt as though
this were still a dream

I pulled you close to me
and let you decide 
for yourself

Moving Light

Accelerating through darkness
Lights only illuminate
A few feet in front of me at a time

My foot stays steady on the gas
The fatigue of a late night drive
Begins to burrow into my marrow

Everyone else sleeps through 
Dark and passing miles
A moving point of light aloft

On an endless black sea
I dare not close my eyes
Fifteen more miles