Sleeping & Waking

That brief interlude between

Sleeping and waking,

I pass through each day like

Some dark undertaking,

Where nothing is real, where

I’ve been to or going,

My mind is disordered,

My heartbeat is slowing.

And even the room that I

Enter is swaying,

My eyes are distended my

Brain is nay-saying,

While legs stagger sideways

And crablike in function

Like some leaden corpse treated

To extreme unction.

The wars were all won, or

Were lost in the sleeping,

While everything worthwhile

Would seem to be weeping,

The slate should be cleared by

Each act of purgation,

But I wake each day to

Some strange dissipation.

I often forget simple

Words in our language,

That drive to distraction

And cause me more anguish,

But calm will return when

The evening is making

That brief interlude between

Sleeping and Waking.

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Valentine]

This is a deep and moving write that made me think of my own mind lately. Only I sometimes wish to just sleep in dreamland. There is only a split second in between the two, I pray you are not really forgetting words. I like your mind functioning. Valentine

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Those moments between sleep and waking...

[Helen Crutchett]

You have penned very profound emotions here. I liked it a lot.

[MomzillaNC]

To me, this speaks of a potentiality on the cusp of waking –– a moment from dreaming of an existence hoped for –– before the realities of age and regret settle themselves back on shoulders weighed down by life.

[Coyote Poetry]

Life is odd.
"That brief interlude between
Sleeping and Waking."
The above lines are true and with life. Sleeping and waking fall closer together. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Ethan]

Nice meter. Would you consider moving "between" and "where", etc to the next line? mentally doing that helped me "feel" the rhythm of the meter more easily.

[D Connolly]

This is much darker than your other poems; it makes me think of the difficulties of aging or perhaps the sadness that comes from being consumed with addiction, as I have found myself feeling this way more than once. My love goes to you David