Alone in the night
Awake, bushy-tailed and bright

My mind won’t switch off
Ideas come, flooding my thoughts

Eyes don't want to close
Time, my body thinks it knows

But, it's all haywire
Revved up and ready to fire

The cycle goes round
continuing to be wound

Unable to sleep 
at the time others snooze deep

Running ahead at full speed
meanwhile, I wake up fatigued

It's backwards, you see
Can't go to sleep until 3

The rhythm it's whacked
It has got my days all jacked

I sleep until noon
but come alive with the moon

Copyright © 2021 Aimee Phillippi

*I wrote this poem last week when I couldn't sleep. Although, I haven't been officially diagnosed, I'm certain I've had a sleep disorder since I was a teenager, around the time I experienced the trauma of my dad leaving. My circadian rhythm has been off for as long as I can remember and no matter how hard I try to force myself to change my sleep patterns, it's a constant battle. I come alive with the moon and am dragging until early afternoon the following day.