Wake up to sleep

I drew a portrait,

And called myself an artist.

When I did not have time to draw anymore,

Did I become any less of myself?

 

This skin shedding,

This habit leaving.

This growing up,

This looking back,

The self is here.

Oh, but look!

The self is missing from itself again.

 

I misplaced myself in time.

You are now trying to erase yourself from the past.

It just won’t do.

This filling of flesh into tomorrow,

Leaving today, to tuck itself to sleep,

Alone.

But wait –

Don’t leave just yet.

Stay for a while.

 

Tell me,

What did you learn?

What did you bury?

How did you grow into yourself again?

But more pressingly,

Did you love?

Did you breathe in the green today?

Did you hurt enough to burst?

Into a hundred withered petals?

Particle to particle,

Dust to dust.

 

Time –

The distance between you and me.

You are who you were and will be.

So close your eyes,

And wake up to sleep.