Rem Sleep Poems | Examples

The Programmed Mind

("The Mothership", 2024, original encaustic photo collage)

The Programmed Mind

Riding our brain waves
What we do and say and think
Finds a lasting home
At whatever level
Those vibrations take us.

Do we remember our dreams
What we did, said and thought
As the relaxed state of REM sleep
Molds us, solidifying or disrupting,
Our daytime persona?

Do we consciously seek out
Our own reprogramming
In deep prayer and meditation
Establishing familiarity
With primordial zero-point awareness?

Or do we simply
Follow our impulses like a dog
Basking in the pleasure
Of comfortable routine
And operant conditioning?

It is our mind after all
To have and to hold
Or rather as the case may be,
To reclaim and rewire, 
Program and heal for ourselves.

(4/16/25)

Layers of the Unconscious Mind

In layers of the unconscious mind,
Where desire and fear are hard to find.
Through symbols and there metaphors,
We seek to find those open doors.

Through corridors of thought, we roam,
Hearts beating like a metronome.
A subconscious dream within a dream,
We search for truth in things we've seen.

The introspection we are searching for,
A message wrote in semaphore.
This message we don't understand.
Whilst dreaming, we're in no-man's-land.

Self-Reflection in the things we seek,
As wild eyes flicker in REM sleep.
We awake within our lucid dream,
To find things aren't quite what they seem.

This false awakening controls.
Whilst sleeping, searching for our soul.
Our soul search late into the night,
We fight our way towards the light.

A cryptic sign which makes no sense,
We wonder, lost in dreams suspense.
In search of truth, we must explore,
A paradox found at every door.

In the labyrinth of our complex mind,
Is a truth one day I hope we'll find.
A dream with secrets hidden deep,
Dreams secrets kept, yet whilst we still sleep.

Paranoid

Paranoid thoughts, like shadows they creep.
As your eyes flicker wildly in this REM sleep.
The clock ticks so loudly, each hour it chimes.
As my mind runs away, in a world out of time.

A voice starts to echo, as I lie in this bed.
Whilst this voice whispers softly, puts a doubt in my head.
As your mind starts to question what's real and what's false.
While you dance with the devil in a dark, lonely waltz.

While the walls close in tighter, my breath quickens fast.
As my mind starts to wonder, in these thoughts I feel trapped.
My chest start to tighten, the anxiety kicks in.
This insomnia I'm feeling has my head in a spin.

I find truth in the whispers. It gives me strength in the fight.
As I battle my demons just to get through this night.
In the midst of this chaos, a flicker remains.
A flicker of hope, to break out from these chains.

I will awake from this darkness and confront every fear.
As the night turns to day, these dark thoughts disappear.
Though these paranoid thoughts they may linger and creep.
I'll find peace in the silence when I wake from this sleep.

Festive Words

Make haste arise,
assert the words.
Salute each term
that now gabfest.

In mid of night
they waltz, serenade;
Jovially jolting
a rem-sleep state.

Appease them please,
awake, awake.
You have mere seconds
so soon they fade.

Witty performers, 
these festive words;
Parade to play part
of a poet's verse.

Rare frolic idioms
seldom last;
Assign them purpose,
applaud their crafts.

Ink well the quill,
poetize prose.
Recite with vigor 
what words compose.

Inscribe each stanza 
on scroll egg-shell white.
A task I've done 
numerous times.

Ideal locutions
dispel thy rants.
In poetic sequence,
I'll debut thy stance.

DAYTIME SLEEP APNEA AND ME

Dreaming in pieces I awakened 
to night terrors again my memory 
gazing into yesterday my broken 
beautiful brain signals sleep my senses 
aroused by sullen matter keeping me 

from sleep tossing turning peeking 
into the darkness sound removed 
gestures dance across the room 
an yet by day I daze taking 
ten minute naps of dream state 

rem sleep over come by sudden 
nightmares falling into deep sleep 
on the bus stop on a plane at work 
at school in church even short visits 
to doctors office daytime sleep apnea
 
is what it's called heart racing panic 
anxiety where am I uncontrollably 
drifting off to sleep all day while 
nighttime I sleep awake dancing 
with the galaxy trying to sleep rest

repeating this cycle daily oddly 
losing my balance legs folding 
right under me falling to the ground 
like falling off a cliff cataplexy with 
a tinge of vertigo no cure you know

brain injury residue of course 
medications are added to simply 
keep me awake all day allowing 
me to rest quietly at night dream state
dreaming in pieces dreaming awake

Dream Talk

At breakfast I scribble in a notebook
questions like:
why do I feel like a duck-billed platypus
has been nibbling at my brain all night?
The I remember
the billabong, the kookaburra
and the ‘jolly swagman’
all of whom
party-crashed my REM-sleep.

I ask: "Did you dream in the night dear?"
“Flamingo.” she says tersely.
After a pause,
“You ran-over my pet flamingo
with that big stupid truck of yours.”

I thoughtfully butter some toast.
“It was the flying monkey’s”
I replied weakly,
“they made me do it”

Wrist Watch

Technological marvel:
who’d have ever guessed?
They went to the moon,
powered by less.
The thing receives phone calls,
it’s got GPS,
a mindfulness app
for when you are stressed.
It monitors heart rate,
can produce EKGs,
prompts you when it’s time:
take your medicine, please.
Blood-oxygen levels,
hours of REM sleep;
If you’re under the water,
it knows just how deep.
If you’re lost in the woods,
it will help get you back,
or blast a loud siren
if you’re under attack.
The steps that you took,
the stairs that you climbed,
record a voice memo
to capture a rhyme.
Listening to music,
or receiving a text,
keep up with your groceries,
so your wife won’t be vexed.
For the gals, tracking cycles,
and for all, track your phone,
keeps up with the NASDAQ,
and the stocks that you own.
But it doesn’t record
all the things that you missed -
Life in arrest,
watching your wrist.

Tale of the Meremouse

The tiny creature swam up through my plumbing pipes.
She was teenier than a real rodent, much smaller.
Not lady bug petite, but teensy, grasshopper-size.
She had wings but they were black, not gossamer.

Do not forget the paddles on her feet! My muse reminds me.
I scoff; she does not realize I was writing before she developed.
The meremouse crept in quietly, she had a forked tail.
And teeth – oh, my goodness, three rows at least!

The cat opened one eye and watched her scoot by.
Not wanting to encounter any of those rows of teeth.
She was also wearing a Las Vegas headdress-like wig.
This intimidated the cat also; he is a tom, easy to intimidate.

The meremouse focused on one object, and it was the cheese.
She waited patiently to steal it until we were in REM sleep.
Then she opened the refrigerator with her enormous lasso-like tail.
Stole every bit of cheese we had in there – feta, mozzarella, cheddar.

Anyway, this is my husband’s version of what happened.
He is the only one who saw the mythical meremouse.

Maybe

Mind drifts as my eyelids become heavy

Thoughts of what could've been

Maybe

What could still be

That subtle smirk settles across my lips

Half smile
Half frown

REM sleep, but
My heart is racing

The vision is clear

Staring into each other's eyes, the sensual silence is like foreplay.  

You reach out and your strong arms hold me tight

While your voice begins to make passionate love to my mind, with deep conversation

The height of our talk brings us to climax simultaneously

Moonlight turns to sunrise and I awaken

Startled because I can no longer feel your embrace

No longer feel the deep penetrating thrusts of heart to heart dialogue

I lay there wondering, missing, and longing

His parting words, "she's a female version of me".

Her parting thought, "is that so bad?".

She still wonders, "What could have been.....

MAYBE

What could still be"

Grandmother Spider

Grandmother Spider was constructing an intricate web
Full of dainty loops and whorls, to catch humans unaware.
She incorporated ideas they could have never had during the day
Their imaginations are on fire during REM sleep slumber.

Grandma Spider recognized this, letting them dance and sing
Some caught fire and ran toward their muses
Others blew away in the dust upon their awakening.
Grandmother Spider never gave up trying. She was a dream-weaver,

Rhythm and Jazziness That Resonates Familiar

Following the trail of stardust I float to Jupiter
Looking for answers
But alas they are elusive and unkind
I do not understand
or fathom rudeness

Upon my return my eyes flutter in relief
REM sleep takes me deeper and deeper
Poetry can be written another time
Tonight there is nothing
No inspiration

Don’t give up an ancestral voice whispers
She has answers
And questions I had never thought to ask
We create together, this cosmic visitor and I
There is a rhythm and a jazziness that resonates familiar

Upon awakening all is lost

Creating a Rhythm and Jazz

Following the trail of stardust I float to Jupiter
Looking for answers 
But alas they are elusive and unkind
I do not understand
or fathom rudeness

Upon my return my eyes flutter in relief
REM sleep takes me deeper and deeper
Poetry can be written another time
Tonight there is nothing
No inspiration

Don’t give up an ancestral voice whispers
She has answers 
And questions I had never thought to ask
We create together, this cosmic visitor and I
There is a rhythm and a jazz that resonates familiar

Upon awakening all is lost

But Wait Hope Said

In her mind she was still chained to the house
There was no escape, no plan, no hope
She was irritated with herself
For she recognized these chains were hers.
Frustration felt like eating concrete


She had tried to escape the sadness of her youth
For some unknown reason, the house had returned
In her Rem sleep, chasing her, making her face the demons
She was not strong enough to escape or face as a youth.

But wait hope said.
Aren’t we mightier now?
Didn’t we get away?
Haven’t we accomplished something?
She returned to the nightmare a tiny bit less afraid.

June Evening

A June evening’s serendipitous peek into my serene majesty of silence
An unhurried feeling penetrates my soul, I hear myself sigh.
Glorious iridescent bubble of imagination expands my consciousness
Magical desert mirage lit by meditative stars is a highlight of my imagination
Rainbow aura highlights illuminate my faerie muse’s growing sunspot.
I fall deeper and deeper into REM sleep, and my soul unleashes herself.
A mystical castle of Badlands glorifies the middle eastern desert in my soul.
A portal of dreamscape enjoyed by me as I transcend and begin my astral travel.

Doorway To My Soul Development

Mystical doorway to my soul development opens up during REM sleep
I do not always see the steps, but I recognize they are there
Ready to help me sever the silver cord and meet my spirit guides 

I saw it again tonight during astral travel. I felt excited, yet hesitated. 
I am simultaneously thrilled with the steps, and yet fearful of them.
My essence knows that if I make the climb my soul will not return to my body.

Whomp!  I hit my body so hard I wake up gasping again.
Conscious memory of the ethereal doorway completely gone.
And yet my soul still knows….

• Short Rem Sleep Poems
• Famous Rem Sleep Poems
• Best Rem Sleep Poems
• Read Rem Sleep Poems
• Long Rem Sleep Poems
• Rem Sleep Quotes