Sleepless Winter

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December 19, 2010


It's another evening
And me curled up by the fire
The firelight reflected in my eyes
Flickers and wavers
Giving way to strange stories

I smile as my eyes glaze over
And a hundred years seem to pass
The silence suddenly/ Just at my elbow

Something curled up in my lap
Like a housecat purrs
I stroke it absently and smile
As I watch the things that never were

There's a pain in the centre of my forehead
Right over the frown wrinkle
I'm asleep with my eyes wide open
I'm dead to the world
Even as my hands stroke something
Absently, that lies curled up in my lap

There's something to be said
About these things I see
When I'm awake and yet asleep

A bit of replay here
A bit of fantasy there
A sliver of wistful thinking
And a song long forgotten
A face I've seen many times before
In a game I used to play when I was a child
All mixed up with the tears I shed

My pet curled up in my lap purrs
And snarls at my dreams if they get real bizarre
She'll watch over me all winter
So I can lean back with my glass of pineapple beer
And smile as I sail away
On waves of breezy imagination

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