lullaby for all those Poem by Ulrike Almut Sandig

this is a lullaby for all those who resist
when it's time to go to sleep. a lullaby for all
those who put up a fight, when somebody
says: lights out, no more talking, my tired
friends, in the bars all the chairs have been
stacked on the tables, the billboards hum
as the posters are changed, cameras film
the empty bank foyers, all the night
kiosks are alight, all the night buses
purr through the illuminated cathedral

of the city. we are talking in pictures. butdo we have any idea how ‘darkness'
is written? my tired, my night-blind friends,
we're waiting for good news, though good
news is rare by day, we're waiting for two
or three of those good, humming dreams,
four peace treaties, five apples in deep sleep,
we are waiting for six cathedrals and for
the seven fat cows, eight quiet hours
full of sleep, we're waiting for nine friends
gone missing. we're counting our fingers.

we're still resisting. we won't go to sleep.