Sleepless Poem by Julian Takali

Beseiged by the calm of the cool black liquor
Dripping from every corner
Humming me to sleep
I lay still in my coffin while the shadows creep

They whisper amongst themselves sweet secrets
Scratch my walls with their razor sharp nails
Riff them up and down my naked body
Enslaving me to insomnia, kissing my cheek with their cold exhale

But these sinewy, pendulous, crusty demons are my friends
Caressed by the lush of the night
As they keep me company
As I am myself, a ghost in life