Insomnia Poem by Mary Champion

Midnight passed two hours ago,
but here I stand in moonlit glow.
The mocking clock marks slothful time
and ev'ry hour its mournful chime
reminds me I should be asleep,
and thus, the lonely hours creep.

How long left now until the dawn?
A shadow runs across the lawn
and leaps the fence to disappear.
The prowling fox fears not the night
while I am anxious, for the light.

Nocturnal creatures wander free
through hours that imprison me.
My tortured thoughts wake with the moon
to disinter each hidden wound,
reminding me of all the pain,
replaying all the guilt again.

I pray! I beg for sleep to come,
its sweet unconsciousness to numb
the doubt that looms so large at night.
But still, I witness dawn's first light.
Unrested I must make my way
to sleepwalk through the coming day.