Insomnia - Poem

Literary Review, Wntr, 2004 by Rick Mulkey

Insomnia

   The way, from 30,000 feet, the earth
   looks like marble, or sorghum swirled
   in a batter, beaten and mixed up,
   this is how it is in the beginning
   of the middle of the night.
   We think we need miracles
   but it doesn't have to be
   parachutes opening, or the chemistry of yeast.
   Why not my life as sawdust
   layered over a concrete floor, or the muddied
   light of rain puddled in a footprint,
   or an olive ground into white linen?
   How can we resist waking?
   The night is a lie whispered
   in our ears, the breath perfumed
   with the scent of fresh peaches
   and only a hint of hurt in the hard, bitter pit,
   a dark bruise rooted in light.

Rick Mulkey is the author of Before the Age of Reason. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Southern Poetry Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Denver Quarterly, and Red Cedar Review.