My oldest friend (or so it seems),
how nice to be acquainted once more.
Dear Night-time,
we never do part ways for long, do we?
And here we are again,
singing this same familiar song
in chorus with the moon and the tide and the stars,
waiting and not waiting
for the rest of the world to join us.
Quiet though we may be,
we’re quite good company,
you and the dark sky and me.
The baby likes the nighttime!
But…not really for sleep.
Oh, she’ll catch the occasional wink
and then wake,
like it’s time to play.
And daytime naps?
Well, maybe?
Nah – there’s just too much to do and say,
too many good messes to make.
Yeah, we’re all going a little crazy.
Except, of course, the baby.
At this point, I’ve bought
FOUR
different pregnancy pillows.
And you know what,
I still can’t sleep.
I suppose it’s not surprising,
not a big mental leap
by any means,
since I’ve never been good at this.
But it sure would be nice
to curl up for
at least one night,
totally at peace.
And I have to wonder,
for those who can,
for those lucky ones who
drift off
quick and easy:
What is the secret?
Like, I have to be missing something,
right?
RIGHT?!
(I’m tired.)
Some of you may recall a post from August of 2020 – Three Insomnia Haiku. And well, folks, here we are again, in the Land of Little Sleep. At this point, I feel like I must be among its most frequent and loyal inhabitants.
The facts are these:
I don’t know how many of you know the feeling of staring endlessly at your ceiling in the dark, or of tossing and turning and never quite finding that comfy spot on your pillow, or of flipping through the channels trying to find something (anything) that might bore you to sleep or drown out the invasive anxieties running through your head. But if you’re dealing with any of that, then know that I am with you, my friend, and man, it just really, really sucks. And if you’re not, consider yourself lucky and enjoy that blissful rest you’re getting.
Why am I writing about this now? No idea, honestly. It was just on my mind. It’s been on my mind all day, as I’ve groggily moved from task to task, never quite focusing completely and thinking way too much about the possibility of maybe, just maybe crawling into bed tonight and closing my eyes and cozily drifting off with a purring Gatsby snuggled up beside me.
But I digress.
Or do I?
You know, I’m honestly not sure. I’m sleepy, y’all.
At any rate, if anyone has any clever tricks for falling (and perhaps more importantly STAYING) asleep, feel free to share them! At this point, I’ll try just about anything. Except warm milk. Ew.
A Virginia Writer's Diary 