Sleeping is nice, when you can.
It helps you feel refreshed
For another day.
Drugs are good, if they work.
Some people need more,
Some people need less.
I like to sleep, if I can,
And I’ll take drugs, if they work.
Sedatives will do the trick,
If you use the right ones,
But you can take too much
Of that kind of stuff.
Addiction is worse
Than a little insomnia.
So I try to relax on those nights,
As best I can, without them.
Sometimes, though,
You just gotta do what you gotta do.
Cringe, post a mark.
Laugh, be a tart.
Run, lift, screeeeam!
You’re on the cake and in the cream!
Do you know the secret
Of doing good business?
Tell the truth,
That’s what I always say.
Wars wage out the window,
Behind us, on the front lawn.
We sleep a soundless sleep,
In the quiet of our bedroom.
Catch a wing,
Flutter to the sky.
Try your best to escape
This broken world, or die.
Get a high from joking
Ruffians smoking dope.
Get a wild hair up with
Nothing to do but cry
For the fun you’ll never have,
The love you’ll never know,
The pleasure you will never,
Ever find in abandoned alleys
Where you spend your waking hours.
Shooting up only brings you down
In the sorry end.
So, which way to turn?
Live to the fullest on the battlefield
Of life. Never give up!
Treasure your dreams,
And follow your heart.
Even if you never achieve
Your goals, it is your dreams
And the yearning of your heart
That let you know for sure
That you are still alive.
For without a dream,
There is no hope,
And without a heart,
There is no passion.
So dream on,
Always knowing
That in the end,
You were completely
Here, and completely
Alive and awake,
In the now.
I used to be concerned with
How much I did,
Or how much I didn’t do,
Evaluating whether or not
I was up to snuff
With my own priorities,
And of course,
Whether or not
I kept my wife happy.
Lately, things have
Taken a different turn.
Since my body
Has seen fit
To rebel against me,
And my doctor
Doesn’t seem able
To reign things in,
My priorities have
Changed quite a bit.
In fact, the term
“priorities” doesn’t
Seem to fit anymore,
Not for how most
People think about it.
My biggest priority
Is my medicine.
That’s not a new one,
At least on the surface,
Since I’ve had bipolar
For over 15 years,
And been taking meds
For just as long.
But now it makes
An immediate,
Drastic difference.
And the long-term risk
Without it,
Is terrifying.
It’s like food
And water.
And the third need,
Common to all of us,
But more drastic for me,
Is sleep. More specifically,
I have to keep my sleep
In order. I have to take
A strong round of meds
Throughout the day,
And then really
Pulverize my mind
With meds
At the end of the day,
Just so I can sleep.
And I have to start
A methodic relaxation,
Early, despite being
A night person.
Otherwise,
I will not be getting up
For work in the a.m.
Obviously,
Things have changed
A little bit.
(Poetic Asides
“Priorities”)
Stumbling along the sidewalk 