Trouble Sleeping

by D’Zhané Braxton

after Gillian Flynn

I like to nap, it’s nice to feel the warmth. I love to sleep Laying in my bed with my rainbow blanket, with my cats, in the dark. Although, Sleeping is hard to do with all of this noise Cats constantly meowing left and right Pots & Pans being clunked together Constant footsteps People outside Hearing my neighbors arguing But I try to ignore I can pretend I’m ignoring But in reality, I am not It’s very annoying to hear all these noises Not able to drown it out with clear waves of water No noise is alike I have three pets, and they’re all cats But they only come to me if I ignore. After all of the noises have come to the end Like a quill running out of ink My eyes close and I start to drift away The purring of my cats coming to an end I am finally a piece of wood Logged in between the earth bottom rows Sprouting out Leaves and Trunks If you ignore, you won’t see the bigger things It’s very hard to ignore. But it’s even harder to persevere. Isn’t it?