3 AM
I woke up sleep-
less, high on heart-
beats, belly
aches and moonless mania;
at break
of dawn I sighed,
I dressed
& went surviving
back to work.
9 PM, I fell
asleep
& dreamed till dawn;
I dressed
returned to work,
survived;
a time for sustenance
another time
to live.
Nocturne, Grey and Gold by James McNeill Whistler
I have been through a few weeks of very hard work… it will go on, but tonight I have a brief moment to catch my breath, and thought I would write something for Lillian’s prompt that I missed and link up to Open Link Night at dVerse.
—
March 7, 2019
Björn Rudbergs writings 
I have always been impressed by how active you are poetically, despite such a busy vocational and personal calendar. Sharp piece, sir.
This poem is awesome. I really dig it. I hope your workload lets up soon.
It did a bit today… so it feels great.
Most excellent to hear.
Oh, the daily grind, Björn! I used to live that life but couldn’t do it now. It made me breathless just reading about it; I’m so glad you survived! I love the phrase ‘moonless mania’.
It resonates with me…so busy…I wonder sometimes where time goes while we just want to catch our breath…
A musical rendering of the hamster on the wheel! Hope you de-stress well, dear Bjorn. And, with Spring coming, better more uplifting days are surely on the way…
This is beautifully evocative, Bjorn! ❤ You are an inspiration for us all 😊
Nice description: “high on heart-
beats, belly
aches and moonless mania;”
Writing it out of your system. Keep up the heartbeats.
You conjure the angst in the first half of the first stanza, then break it into the resignation of surviving until the workload lightens. Such relief in the 2nd stanza. So glad you have time to live again. You are a maestro of mood here.
I understand the rat race of surviving work so that one can live in between times. An interesting poem.
Your poem speaks to me as I have a busy life myself and sometimes I just need to breathe. I find peace in the dreamscape unless it is one of those restless nights.
Great depiction of the daily grind. Makes me appreciate retirement all over again!!
I know the grind and like the time format. I like the word breaks in the first stanza, and the feeling that the busy time is circular, intruding in our sleep. Good to read that you had a break for poetry!
Ah, the rat race is a universal bain.
I don’t miss that whirlwind. Exhausted me just reading your words. Take care.
ahhh. i feel you on this. this week has been chaotic. but we survived.
Sometimes life is life that. Running on empty, as they say. Hope things return to a slower pace soon! (K)
work, and work, your fingers to the bone (line from a 70’s movie called Carwash….)
I can feel the frenetic pace that you portray so evocatively! Well done!