“O bed! O bed! Delicious bed! That heaven upon earth to the weary head.”
-Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg-Her Dream
I forgot how big my bed was. I forgot how the down comforter is molded to my body’s sleep posistion. And I forgot how the nineteen-year-old fan above me sings the best lullabies and how quickly I fall asleep.
Night Prayer
Now I lay me down to sleep as i stare at my bedroom ceiling,
it transforms.
its grooved edges become
patterns, grotesque and beautiful.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep i cry for help
as the patterns evolve into monsters,
glaring and menacing.
If I die before I wake their bloody mouths swallow me
enveloping me in warm darkness.
it’s overwhelming,
almost intoxicating.
I pray the Lord my soul will take i switch on the light in a cold sweat
mastering beasts, who, i realized,
were only caused by a splinter
lodged firmly in my mind’s eye.
AMEN
