Songs from Stephen King’s Knapsack III: Insomnia

by Gary Blankenship
Blueline
Honorable Mention, June 2007
Judged by Bryan Appleyard


Trees don’t sleep, although some sit up in bed
and pretend. They might even nod off
for a cat-nap, but you never catch them
in the depths of REM sleep where dreams come from.

Some undress preferring to spend the long night
nude, nothing between them and the damp fog
but some ragged shreds of moss and lichen.
Others stay clothed as they watch the moon change

from sickle to an old man eye winking.
Come day, they yawn and nests fall from great heights.