sleep or wake?
tomorrow, when I wake, or think I do, what shall I say of today? — Samuel Beckett
I’m usually in bed by 10:30, a sleep-deprived firefly unable to close its eyes, flitting from one scenario to six I curl my toes through shag-pile carpet, pink bubble gum on my tongue leave through the porch past the low hanging laburnum tree, feeling branches either side of me by the harbour, I sit on the stone wall, double lines in my eyes; staring at a test, then back into my phone the lighthouse beckons — illuminating a hesitant shadow a girl cross-legged, furious at not having the right pencils to draw her cat the way she'd like together we pull at the tide, asking it which way to go; the skies overhead open — black as the water below
thank you for reading x
I particularly enjoyed two things. One: the tactical (and restrained) use of alliteration [low-hanging liburnum tree]. Two the selective imagery: the libernum tree choice (versus just any old 'tree); the shag carpet choice (versus floor or a less complex carpet) and the bubble gum choice (injection of kiddish whimsy into a more complex mood). This interplay of light and dark crescendos more clearly with the lighthouse v the dark tide and sky. I'm a better future writer for reading this poem.
Love this, especially: "Together we pull at the tide, asking it which way to go." <3