To the restless insomniac,

You were awake. You felt ready. Ready to start. Your day.
It just happened to be 4AM. Hmm.
Not part of the deal you made with the drugs.
You were used to them working. Sedating without fail.
But the 4AM wake-up call? That was new.
You tiptoed into the dining room.
Popped open the lid on the box labeled Wednesday.
Sigh—an admission of defeat and relief.
The mystery behind your sleeping woes solved. With 1, 2, 3…
drugs innocently lying there. Waiting to be consumed.
You forgot to take them. Was it an accident?
You hated that your body couldn’t keep its own rhythm
without the help of something man-made.
You hated that your brain was constantly on overdrive.
At the same time, you could see that there was a solution
in the something man-made.
To fix what your body couldn’t naturally do
so that your brain could finally shut down. Rest.
Sigh—an admission of defeat and relief. Good night.

Sincerely, Esther