Slumber Denied

         I punch the pillow, the sheets I kick.

         Feet in, feet out, there's no comfy pick.

         One minute warm, the next ashiver.

         No rest for me will sleep deliver.                

         I toss, I turn, sweet comfort I seek.

         Moments tick by, at the clock I peek.

         How can it be only half past three?

         I stumbled away six times to pee.                   

         I tense my muscles, wriggle my toes.

         Relaxing eludes me, off it goes.

         A drumbeat throbs along my pulse points.

         I moan, I groan, pain gnaws at my joints.              

         Where's the drifting, the floating, the calm?

         I'm shattered by a nerve-tingling bomb.

         I yearn to crash, meet bedtime bliss.

         And yet new morn dawns, still no sleep's kiss.       

         I sigh, I rise, my daze day begins.

         I wobble, trip, rest-deficit wins.

         A fog descends, muffles my vision.

         Slumber spent, I rue sleep's decision. ( 20 lines )