Lovely Poetry #27 - "Counting Sheep" (Prose Poem)

The moon stares down at me, fixing its gaze through my window pane. I take a breath as slow and steady inhaling and exhaling apathy. The blanket wraps around my fragile skin and bones. The sheets become my company every night as I count sheep from one to a hundred. My mouth spits down numbers, one, two, three and my mind takes a break from the madness that is reality.

The moment I drift to sleep, thoughts shake me, waking me up. Like walking around an empty street and suddenly falling into a hole of never-ending possibilities without a way out. Imagining scenarios of what happened and what could have been like a movie, forward, rewind, pause and play. Of notes unwritten, unfinished sentences and calls unanswered. I close my eyes, count to infinity, and start again ,one..two.. three..

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_{I wrote this prose poem because lately, I have been having trouble sleeping. I don't know what could possibly be the reason behind it but I'm sure it affected me mentally and emotionally. I would catch myself feeling a bit groggy during daylight. I can't seem to focus on my daily tasks and sometimes, it just ends up with me being frustrated.}

_{In the past, my uncle would say, “You have so much thoughts in mind, that's why you can't sleep." if he sees me roaming inside the house at 12 midnight. But now, as I think about it "Are we not able to sleep because we have so much thoughts to think about?" or "Do we have so much to think about because we can't fall asleep?" well those are some of my unanswered questions.}

_{One of the factors I consider as the culprits of me not having a good night sleep is my lights being kept on. When I was still living in the dormitory, me and my roommates decided to keep the lights off while sleep because most of us can't sleep while the lights are on. We almost always tuck ourselves to bed during the same time so there's not so much problem with that. When I transferred from the school dormitory to a boarding house, I decided to turn the lights off when I sleep. Though sleeping in a new place can be quite difficult during the first week, I adjusted really quickly the week after. Fast forward to present, now that I am staying in our house for a few months now I just can't turn the lights off because turning it off makes me feel more alone as our place is extremely quiet during night time and that I would wake up a couple of times at night. Unlike the people in the city, our house being located in the sub urban, a lot of our neighbors sleep really early. Hence, turning the lights off while I sleep is definitely a no.}

_{I have tried other things that might help me sleep but none of them seems to work the magic. I don't also consider taking pills or any of some sort . I really need to do research about this matter. Anyway, if you have suggestions on how to fall asleep quickly, feel free to drop it in the reply section below!}

See my other works for the Lovely Poetry Series below!

The Bird Clipped its Wings
Appetite
A Woeful Puzzle
Blank Slate
Unfinished Sentences
Insecurities
Cosmos
Time Out
Shotgun
Roots
Jeepney Stories
Hue and I
Pastime
Late Night Conversations
By the Window
Island Girl
A Quest for Hope
Omnipotent
Flight
The Lost Man
Sun
This City
Ode to that Summer of My Unrequited Love
Solfège
Blue Ocean
Let it Flow

Until next time!
@reewritesthings