The Nightmare Storm

The sleep of the insomniac

Is one nightmare of reality

It begins as you brush your teeth

Wondering where your night takes you

Will you toss and turn in the waves of your aching body?

With the wind screaming whistling noisy thoughts that never shut up?

Or is it your first mate, your kitty cat

Jumping on you till you gasp as she rocks the boat

Digging in her claws- OUCH! until you plunge your hands into her coat making her feel safe?

As the night drags on and on your tiredness reaches its peak

The sails flap back and forth with such force you think you’ll throw up

And the constant blinking of the lighthouse that for most is safe harbour

For you, denotes the taunting glow of numbers from your clock radio

You look away and are blasted with icy sharp bullets of rain on your cheeks

Keeping you awake as you cry out

“I just want to SLEEP” to your squally stormy ceiling

Streaks of light begin to change the torrid blackness

And you realise you wasted another precious night of sleep fighting the storm

As the noisy diverse call of the birds herald a new day

They proudly sing their reveille

Kookaburras taking the lead

As seagulls, magpies and other birds

Slowly join the song

And while they wake others with their chorus

They also sing me to dreams as my little boat docks at the gentle waters’ edge and

I finally become deliciously unconscious