I Cannot Sleep Tonight Poem by Grant House

I cannot sleep tonight. It is dark.
Need pens her in and shocks her.
Fear dissolves sentience.
Horror slams hope against the grinding machine of death.
Blind metal tears screaming flesh apart.
Wet eyes are ripped alive from sockets.
Toes and ears and breasts and hope are ground up. She is
Bleeding,
Pleading,
Stop,
Not me,
Why me,
Please,
No!
Stop!

I cannot sleep tonight. It is dark.
Love holds her down and hurts her.
Tough rage flings the child aside.
Jealousy cuts desperate affection to shreds.
Violence descends between the sheets.
Stark justice stays outside and never comes in time.
Arms and thighs and joy and kindness are bruised. And she is
Screaming,
Asking in a nice voice,
Stop,
Not me,
Why me,
Please,
No!
Stop!


I cannot sleep tonight. It is dark.
Allegiance humiliates her and cuts her down.
Loud voices smash the door of mercy.
Machetes slice the mother's dress
And hack the young boy's head away.
Tribal, national, ideological, religious passions rip our towns to pieces.
Neighbors beat and drag the father to the street. He is
Praying,
Saying,
Stop,
Not me,
Why me,
Please,
No!
Stop!

I will not sleep tonight. It is dark.
There is no dawn from this suffering.