RUNDELANIA

by Alicia Beckwith

IN THE LAND OF NOD

 

When we go to bed at night,
hoping to sleep tight,
Eyes flutter closed as we lie
hoping all’s right.
Heaviness creeps in.
Zoning begins slow din.
As sleep begins its long steady lure
making it hard to discern what’s pure.
It’s then we sometimes learn
how life’s events will turn.

All’s not as it seems in the land of nod.
Things just seem really, really odd.
Noises are louder.
Nights are darker.
Shadows are longer.
Nightmares bolder.
If we’re being chased and try to hurry up,
everything somehow gets all mixed up.
Muscles stick in glue
Nothing we try can undo.
And when we try to run away,
our legs just flail away!
So, off we drift into dreamland without a clue
hoping that those dreams weren’t true.

 

Alicia Beckwith is a local poet and has been writing poetry for four decades.  Her poems have been published in book collections and magazines.