Sweetsleep

Heavy patchwork corduroy quilt drawn
Freehand in black ink, sharp lines and subtle shading
A sketchbook page, easily flipped through
Holds an image of a memory, transience
Captured

Sleeping on the couch he twitches in his sleep
Mumbles, turns, pulls the quilt up under his chin
Dreaming of days long past, days when we
Were young and carefree, with all the time
In the world

When a weekend felt like a lifetime and
Summers were never ending ladders up into the sky
climbing into music, friends, drugs, love
debating truth and beauty in pre-dawn
jam sessions

eyelids flicker, memories montage past
shutters close, a bubble rises to the top of consciousness
pops, memory released, summer night
all nighter, sitting on garage roof
stoned

staring at the stars, thoughts so scattered
free style rap with no beat and no rhythm, just kids
pretending to be cooler than they really
were. Wanting desperately to know
why

dream departs, memory returns to
subterranean swamp depths. Eyes yawn like lions
morning’s light falls on the page
sketchbook open to an image of a friend
waking from sleep