Now I never tire!                   Long, blank hours
I am awake, breathing,              blink past
all night, conscious,               uncertain why
lingering past the                  the darkness does
point where the                     not inspire me.
whole world
fails.                              I see the cities
                                    stolen in slumber,
Ha!                                 each weary excuse
The midnight hours                  falling
have new meaning.                   until I am
I revel in countless                alone in darkness
minutes, free to                    squirming and sighing,
do anything except                  waiting for a companion
dream.                              to awaken.

3/95

Tom's Notes:

It's a simple story as I ponder the effects of never having to sleep again, something probably every college student has wished for at one point or another. Like the stages the poem goes through, from realization to celebration to second thoughts to regret.

My favorite poem from the moment it was finished up until some time in the past year or so when I began returning to my original purpose for writing poetry -- to get an annoying feeling out of my head.

Originally wrote this stuff because I felt it needed to be done. Some odd form of self-theropy. In college, wrote for more artistic purposes, but still the same self-serving, emotion dumping kinda stuff. Lately, write rarely, often feels like everything's been said, but oh that wonderful feeling when you find a new emotional source of material!

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