Wide awake at two AM,
a moonless night
the branches brought by the breeze
to pat the window-panes
persistently alone,
with pieces of my past
scattered from the cover of my dreams;
growling, scurrying on spindly leg
seeking the protection
of lint and shadows;
leaving in their wake
a sour smell of afterthought,
reminders and regrets
of being made a puppet
for their play, and how
the future never looked like this:
alone, awake at two AM.
Francisco Goya
Today we are writing using settings at dVerse with Grace. The setting in a piece of writing, and sets the mood. It is quite common that I wake up with many strange thoughts, but barely grasping why.
February 11, 2021
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Beautiful and so surreal!
Love the imaginative take when awake at 2pm in the early morning. I normally wake up towards dawn, and I always forget my thoughts. I admire how this surreal like a puppet play, time suspended or something that can happen in the future. Regards from cold Canada.
i mean at 2 am
🙂
I like the circularity of this poem, Björn, which suggests that being wide awake at two AM is a regular occurrence, something that will happen again and again, the use of sound with the branches patting the window-panes, and especially the phrase ‘a sour smell of afterthought’. This is a familiar occurrence, although it usually happens several times in the early hours for me.
The imagery is dry and lonely. The branch tapping reminded me of Wuthering Heights, also sad and lonely.
I love this central part:
“pieces of my past
scattered from the cover of my dreams;
growling, scurrying on spindly leg
seeking the protection
of lint and shadows;”
They are like little beasties that run and hide when we open our eyes. I like how the poem starts with a statement that is repeated, with a cultivation of empathy from the reader by the end line. 2 a.m., alone, on a moonless night can be a very lonely place.
Very nicely done. It speaks a lot to how thoughts can come to pester us at late or very early hours when our defenses are down and minds are prone to wandering. Great piece 🙂
A bit of a nightmarish dreamscape for us. Awake, but blurry, sleep still a mantle. You outdid yourself with the wonderful alliteration,” the branches brought by the breeze, to pat the window panes persistently alone, with pieces of my past…” Great work, brother.
You’ve made time (2 AM) itself a setting, and made it alive with the bitter sharpness of the past, and that, to me, is its own threat.
So little and so much happening at once. The mind races.
Memories can certainly light up the night to keep one up in the wee part of the mornings. Many can relate to this!
Hank
Nothing good ever seems to happen at 2am. The demons come and take over your mind preventing a sweet slumber 😦 I hate it when that happens.
Nothing but the clock and those tapping branches. Setting perfectly drawn, Bjorn. Solid work. Thanx.
all said above, you set a haunting scene of restless waking, thoughts scraping … how blessed a deep sleep is!
Particularly liked: a sour smell of afterthought
Branches brought by breeze to pat window panes …. how I love that line. I awakened at 3 am this morning. A poem running thru my head. Notebook not on my bedside table. Ran upstairs, wrote down the lines. Back to bed. I thoroughly enjoyed your poetry……
Such a perfectly-captured setting of those insomniac moments!
‘leaving in their wake
a sour smell of afterthought,’
– fantastic, this is how worries can get to us during sleepless nights!
I am way too high — come on over and fly with me! I will be back earthbound tomorrow to tread.,!
Loved the dreams scurrying off in to the shadows!
leaving in their wake
a sour smell of afterthought,
reminders and regrets
Under the covers of blanket and time, things never quite seem as we dreamed.
‘Scattered from the covers of my dreams’
This was my favourite line
I love the way you’re able to capture how the past can sneak upon us at night. How you showcase the way we are helpless at 2am in the morning, because that’s usually a time where we go to unwind, it’s usually a time where our bodies have succumbed to the tiredness…