Shouldn't there be a dream
that comes without any stream?
Shouldn't there be a dream
that comes from all that we are conjuring?
A dream so rich
it makes the billionaire jealous.
A dream so fine
it makes the best of arts ambiguous.
Would there ever be such a dream,
that comes through the doors of that mystical land.
Would there ever be such a dream,
that brings joy and lets us live in slumberland?
“The snow did not even whisper its way to earth, but seemed to salt the night with silence.” — Dean Koontz
Inhaling quietude, I watch
glistening pearls swirling in twilight’s sky.
The silence deepens as winter softly creeps
into the night
beneath a canopy of sparkling stars
and the glow of a full pearlescent moon.
I fall into slumberland, knowing when I wake,
the gray barrenness of the land shall be effaced -
replaced by a velvet quilt of white
which winter so pristinely has laid down.
I dream dreams in rhymes and verses,
A poet's blessing in curses,
Vague images pop up in sleep,
Words in jumbles assault me deep;
I dream dreams in rhythmic fragments,
Thoughts quiver without enjambments,
Prompts come in syllables broken,
Illusions signalled unspoken;
I dream dreams that shake me awake,
Midnight muse greets drowsy daybreak,
Ideas cross o'er slumberland,
Muddled whims in poetic strand;
I dream dreams in staccato beat,
Contemplating meter and feet,
Nodding to nightly notions new,
Creative fancy's fleeting view;
I dream dreams that direct my pen,
Grasping glimpses beyond my ken,
Composing fading melodies,
Breathing life into memories.
Too steep! Too steep!
I simply cannot sleep
I should be off in slumberland
The hill! The hill!
Its incline haunts me still
What if it does not go as planned
My brain! My brain!
It's racing 'round again
I simply do not understand
Exhale, close eyes
And try to realize
That life is truly pretty grand
----------
Messing with line lengths: 4/6/8, aab ccb ddb eeb
There is no puzzle in Merry’s keen three-year-old mind
No confusion about whether or not Pinkie will show tonight
Pinkie is her dolphin, who helps her find her way nightly….
to slumberland and worlds her siblings do not remember
Merry is sure they used to know it, but they are older now.
“Time for bed” used to be a battle, but not anymore.
She welcomes the bath, and the book reading now.
Understanding that it leads to her dream sleep
Where Pinkie is waiting to show her back to slumberland,
the world of pixies, faeries, mermaids and angels who love her the best.
Now I lay me down to sleep.
Soon I start to curse the clock
keeping me from counting sheep.
I just hear tick-tock, tick-tock.
Bothersome! What can I do?
Turn face up, then on my side.
An hour’s passed; soon will be two.
How much more can I abide?
All my thoughts keep racing on.
Dread is washing over me
since I feel by light of dawn
only wakeful will I be!
Watch tv or read; I wait . . .
Consciousness is with me still.
What I need to do I hate.
I must take a sleeping pill!
Such Dependency is sick.
I reach out to my night stand.
TWO pills perhaps will do the trick!
Price I pay for Slumberland.
Jan. 23, 2021
for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
I dreamt I had a shut down button
That switches off the lights in my brain,
My mind screen went blank, it was sudden,
As if God Himself had cut the main,
I closed my eyes and reached Slumberland,
'cross far aways and once upons hurled
Wow! That was quicker than a quicksand,
Dreams and wishes of a sleeping world,
How good it would be if I could close
My nimble mind to all its dull thoughts!
Then easily I could go to doze,
Without tying up my mind in knots.
07.13.2020
Each night as I off
to that slumberland go
along the pathways
I've come well to know
and stroll thru that peaceful
enchanted land
until at last
I am holding your hand
Each night as I off
to that slumberland go
along the pathways
I've come well to know
and walk with you there
in that perfect place
and gaze evermore
pon thy beautiful face
Each night as I off
to that slumberland go
along the pathways
I have come well to know
as I walk along
I hope and I pray
that this be the time
when I get to stay
SLUMBERLAND TRIP
Cradled cozily
in bed of cotton candies
colorfully flavored with bliss
I sluggishly
drifted to a repose.
Floated in laze
amongst fluffy foams of clouds
that tasted like vanilla
I felt them lull me deeper
into an abysmal realm
of sweetened reverie.
Drizzles of brown colored droplets
(chocolates)
landed upon my flesh
pacifying me in its tepidity.
Gusts of wind
aromatized by flowers of spring
carried me as it swayed
over valleys and hills
of warm fuzzies
and then
landed me back
to the actuality
that
there aren’t such things in life
only
bittersweet truths
mixed with lies.
Nightly they give thanks
With uncanny stealth they close in
By the scent of carbon dioxide
Drawn to a table
well prepared in the presence
And, of their enemy!
Endlessly raped and pillaged
In my sleepless sleep I wonder...
These gluttonous suckers
Fattened by my blood
Part of his creation
The Lord called “good”?
In pain I wince
Each fine syringe pierces
My tender flesh, deep
Irritant music in the air
On every drop they feast
Yet, thirsts unassuaged.
Once beautiful,
Smooth and hairy skin
Now badly diseased
So bitten, almost leprous
Slumberland nightly denied
By nocturnal roommates.
Tonight is of reckoning!
Doors and windows; open
In droves, welcome.
Dainty meat in abundance
In this open feast.
And with my insecticide
Vengeance will be mine!
In the twilight, it seems to be so lonely, depressing and emotional. Thoughts seem to be forgotten and unsettle. My canton doesn't feel the same anymore. I arise with pain threw my entire bag of bones. The house , so clammed up. It doesn't utter or make harmony. I catch my mind, speaking so many words. Enough for me to write, on paper. Only coming out in puzzles. So I find myself sitting, gaping around. Praying I had a wellwisher. Someone to hold me tight, telling me everything is going to be alright. Someone to rub my head, putting me to sleep. A slumberland so gentle and sweet. Relaxing my thoughts. Easing my words, so I can lose this weight. This weight breaking my back!
Goodnight to you my sweet lady
In dreams I will be with you honey
In bed we will cuddle each other
Dreaming dreams of love together
Hold each other till the morning comes
Staying naked together without any qualms
So come with me tonight to slumberland
Where we will stay together hand in hand
There will be no one in between just you and me
In slumberland you and I will always be free
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