sleep dep. and my obsession are gripping me again
there’s an ache within my body and a buzzing in my brain
the words are flying round me faster than a train
tangling up and crashing til I think I’ll go insane
and I have to get them written as I know I won’t sustain
the ideas until tomorrow so I have to seize the day
I mustn’t lose the the meaning of the things I want to say
so I have to go on writing and to keep my sleep at bay
and you may think I’m silly or that I’ve gone insane
but sleep dep. and my obsession are gripping me again
I want to find an antidote for this silly need to sleep
I have a valid reason for these crazy hours I keep
I want to drown this somnolence as somnolence is cheap
it steals my poems away in its devastating sweep
sleep dep. and my obsession are gripping me again
Hypnos tries to rescue me, but Hypnos is a pain
though Morpheus backs him up with a lullaby’s refrain
I turn away from both of them with undisguised disdain
while the fire in my body fights the water in my brain
now the flames are winning and I feel the fluid drain
the words are making links and the links become a chain
they’re explaining the message I am wishing to convey
and now I’m working fast and at last I’m on the way
to finishing my poem and calling it a day.
but I want to find an antidote for this silly need to sleep
because I have a valid reason for these crazy hours I keep
and I want to drown this somnolence as somnolence is cheap
it robs me of my poems in its devastating sweep
© Jane Paterson Basil
Making it write 
Lordy, woman! The things you can do with words tie me up in a ball. Look at all that rhyming! That’s a h*ll of a poem. Really? You have to be sleep deprived to do that? Naw. You’re a natural at this stuff.
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I have to be tied up in a ball to do that. It’s the words that untangle me.
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Why is it we seem to write best when we’re in utter chaos?
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When I was a mormon I noticed that my writing tended to be uninspiring, and I came to the conclusion that when contentment flies in, original thought flies out. Contentment and passion are enemies. Without passion there is no art. Does that sound about right?
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Friedrich Nietzsche said, “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” YOU are a dancing STAR!
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Thank you. You say the nicest things. I am humbled by that remark, because sometimes when I write I feel as if my words are gifts from elsewhere, for me to pass on. This is a sensation which many wriers experience. I also feel that i am meant to be writing the book of which I have spoken, but I’m stuck at the moment. It will come.
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If it is stuck at the moment, then the time is not quite right. I firmly believe that. Be patient and keep writing (and shining!).
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Maybe you’re right. I have a habit of trying to go against the grain, but it’s probably time to start listening to the voices…
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And yep! That sounds exactly right. How sad is it that most of the time beauty and positive things don’t provoke that kind of passion in us. Why is that, I wonder.
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They did when we were children, didn’t they? When everything was new to us and we were overwhelmed by our lovely planet. I’m going to have to think about that one.
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Ever since a year ago when I first went into the hospital, I found myself being sleep deprived in part because of the care I required from the nursing staff. Every time I came home, I found that I couldn’t sleep unless I was medicated. I weaned myself from the meds, and I’m still sleep deprived. My brain just won’t shut down. This poem was fabulous, as is all your work!
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Thank you so much. It’s awaful when you can’t sleep. I rarely suffer from that. I stay awake because I want to carry on writing.
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Now that I’m old my brain is slow and sleep is easy.
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I find that too, but I resent the need.
One is not old, one is mature. One would like to remind one that in Ireland one would be revered for one’s wisdom!
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I’m moving to Ireland!
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Or perhaps not. I was handing on information from a friend, but upon looking it up, I find that it is all tangled up with paganism, and you’d probably not wish to be what is known as a crone. It doesn’t sound pleasant!
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This is spot on! I used to write poetry and songs. Now I only just find time to blog…..there has always been so much going on in life. I am one of those folks who falls asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, but if I wake in the night with creative words buzzing around then I have to jump out of bed pronto so I can write them down. When I was song writing I had to grab my guitar before the tune was lost in my dreams.🎧,🎶🎧
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It’s the only way, isn’t it. My family and friends have stopped suggesting I should live in a more conventional way, going to bed at a ‘sensible’ time, and getting up when other people do. Now they know not to ring me in the morning because I’ll be asleep – unless I haven’t had time to go to bed at all. When the words are there you just have to get them down before you lose them.
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