A Panacea For Ache Poem by C.D. Xiang

There’s an ache hiding
somewhere in my left elbow.
I seek it out,
lean into it,
devious ache
keeps me awake.

And albeit I am haggard,
now and then, and the words
may blur, marginally, on the screen,
and everything is warm,
soft and warm,
I cannot sleep,
not yet,
later,

sleep

must wait,

but my heart is heavy
in my chest, and
it beats
sluggish...
and more sluggish
and slower still,

and time is slow,

and the light is slow,

and my mind is slow,

and so,

I seek out that ache,
it keeps me awake,
anew.