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| Testered bed with alcove, Ming Dynasty, 15th-16thC, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO by Daderot [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons |
Comfort
I need a soft bed and a hard pillow
To sink into nothingness
And keep from drowning in dreams.
Conventional wisdom says
A hard bed is healthier,
And most pillows are made
Too soft—flattening themselves
Under the weight of my thoughts.
No, the conventional is wrong for me.
The conventional pours me
Head first into the rapids,
Anchored only by my feet upon
A steep and slippery bank.
Too soon I'm swept away.
I lose myself,
And breath is hard to come by
As I tumble,
As I fall.
Swift and terrible is the river of dreams.
Terrible and wonderful and full of awe.
I dream with joy and fear.
I dream with wonderment.
I dream with apprehension.
I dream with no guarantee of waking
And no sense of safety.
I need a soft bed
To envelope my waking self,
My worldly body,
And keep some shaky semblance of sanctuary.
The pillow, of course, is my flotation device.
A hard bed is healthier,
And most pillows are made
Too soft—flattening themselves
Under the weight of my thoughts.
No, the conventional is wrong for me.
The conventional pours me
Head first into the rapids,
Anchored only by my feet upon
A steep and slippery bank.
Too soon I'm swept away.
I lose myself,
And breath is hard to come by
As I tumble,
As I fall.
Swift and terrible is the river of dreams.
Terrible and wonderful and full of awe.
I dream with joy and fear.
I dream with wonderment.
I dream with apprehension.
I dream with no guarantee of waking
And no sense of safety.
I need a soft bed
To envelope my waking self,
My worldly body,
And keep some shaky semblance of sanctuary.
The pillow, of course, is my flotation device.
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