The Sound of Midnight
Image: Midnight Moon ~ Kalilo
Midnight:A ticking clockThe only soundFilling the eerie darkness
The night sky sparkles:The light of a thousand stars,Shining forever
Lying in silenceMemories long forgottenPlaying on my mind
Another restless nightCounting sheepSeeing your face:Sleep will not come
Rain, falling slowly,Running down my window paneLike tears from heaven
A ray of moonlightFalling across my pillow:Reminds me of you
Tossing and turningIn an empty bed:Will I always beAlone?
The sound of silence:A tap's steady dripSlowly driving meInsane
Thinking about GodIn the middle of the night:I have no answers
Writer's blockBane of my very existence:The blank pageNever lies
Staring at shadowsFlickering on the wall:My nightmaresMade real
An orange sunriseGreeted by a sparrow's song:A new day begins
Another morningLife rising with the new sun:Finally at rest
Licenced under a Creative Commons Licence
I've been working on this poem for quite a while now. Originally I started it back in September as a different kind of poem, more of a traditional sonnet, but I just couldn't get it to work. I went back to it about a month ago and turned it into this instead.
I've had insomnia for a couple of years now and that's what originally inspired the poem. Quite often I'm still awake around sunrise or later and one of the things I often think about while I'm awake is how the night seems to have a life of its own. The softest sounds - a ticking clock, a dripping tap, the wind rattling the windows - suddenly sound so loud and the shadows play tricks on your mind. There's something beautiful about the stillness of the night as well though and that's what I wanted to try to capture, that feeling of just... listening.
It's not really meant to be a poem as much as a collection of thoughts and feelings and reading it now I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It's different to the poem I set out to write but I think it works quite well as haiku in the end... the brevity suits it and I like that it's a little more open than some of my other poetry as well.
I hope you enjoyed it. I'm through the worst of my writer's block now as well so I should be starting to post more regularly again. I'll have a Christmas post up tomorrow. -- CJ.