To sleep. Oh yes, to sleep

Incessant retrieving, memories weaving
through the boggy moors of the mind.
Insomnia’s contempt with its sleep contretemps
unravels one’s thoughts to unwind.

These modern-day nights there’s a pill, quite effective,
a most tiny aid to one’s slumber.
It will settle a brain, most addictive,
with an artificial resolve to a trouble.

Let us return to times most medieval
with the “fyrste slepe” at night’s eventide.
An awakening phase came thence in the middle,
for the peasant’s night hours did divide.

Let us emulate those simpler times
when middle earth’s days' work was through.
Not just one nap on a peasant’s straw mattress,
he split his feudal nights into two.

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About the Author

Ray spent 21 years in radio broadcasting followed by 27 years as a real estate appraiser. He taught real estate appraisal at the University of Missouri, Ozarks Technical Community College and St. Charles Community College. Ray loves writing and always has. After Ray retired he attained the Certificate in Higher Education in Creative Writing from Oxford University. Writing short stories for the Certificate was exciting especially since he was in his seventies. Since then the genre has become his obsession and he loves to write them often. His email is [email protected]

Ray Shermer
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