lurking under my bed or
boogeymen hiding in my closet
but some nights
I don’t want to go to sleep
because when I turn off the lights
and pull the sheets back, I know
this bed once more will only be
for me to occupy, for me to
lie down and close my eyes
and no matter how much I dream
of having someone next to me,
the cold reality remains the same;
the space next to me is empty
for another night.
Some nights I can get rest and
sleep without a thought of
the emptiness all around but
those nights seem to be
few and far between.
For all the others I try to
stay awake as long as I can
to kill off the nighttime hours
to give myself less time to sleep
in this empty bed.
